Ford Australia today announced Australian Manufacturer’s List Pricing (MLP) and speci

[mcnews]

All-new model range: three cab styles, two body styles, four model variants; three engine and three transmission choices
4x2, 4x2 Hi-Rider and 4x4 available
Compelling value: equipment-rich and competitively priced
First models in Australian showrooms this October

Melbourne, Australia, 5 September, 2011 – Ford Australia today announced Australian Manufacturer’s List Pricing (MLP) and specifications for its all-new Ranger model range.

"Designed from the ground up, this highly anticipated all-new model range, available in both 4x2 and 4x4, has been comprehensively developed to meet the specific needs of Australian ute and light truck customers," Bob Graziano, President and CEO of Ford Australia said.

"Achieving this meant an Australian-based four-year development programme involving almost 500 engineers from around the Ford world. It also involved exhaustive testing in some of the world's harshest operating environments.

"The result: the all-new Ford Ranger is capable, comfortable, powerful, fuel-efficient and includes outstanding safety features.

"It has been designed, engineered and produced to be a leader in its segment and I am certain our customers will agree the moment they get behind the wheel," he said.

Australia will be the first of 180 international markets to release the all-new Ford Ranger when the first models go on sale locally in October.

Australian model range

Australian customers will be able to select from a variety of engines, cab styles, body styles and drive configurations. These are detailed below.

Cab styles

Three cab styles will be available:

Double cab (four doors): offering car-like comfort and a cabin large enough to seat up to five people
Super cab (two conventional doors; two rear panel doors): a spacious interior optimised by two conventional doors partnered with the convenience of two opening rear panel doors and no B-pillar, giving easy access behind the front seats
Single cab (two doors): technology, comfort and load space capability in a well-appointed workhorse

Body styles

Two body styles will be available:

Pick-up
Cab-chassis

Engines

An all-new family of engines will power the all-new Ranger model line-up. They are:

3.2-litre Duratorq TDCi five-cylinder turbo-diesel engine with a maximum torque of 470 Nm and power rated at 147 kW
2.2-litre Duratorq TDCi four-cylinder turbo-diesel engine with a peak torque output of 375 Nm and maximum power output of 110 kW
2.5-litre Ford Duratec four-cylinder petrol engine producing 226 Nm of torque and an outstanding 122kW of power.

Transmissions

For the first time, turbo-diesel Ranger models will be available with either a six-speed manual or six-speed automatic transmission to provide reduced engine rpm and extend driving range on long highway trips or in city traffic. Petrol models will have a standard-fitment five-speed manual transmission.

Driveline configurations

The all-new Ranger will be available in 4x2 and 4x4 drive configurations. Added to this will be a 4x2 Hi-Rider variant, which offers 4x2 drive with the same height and ground clearance as the 4x4 model.

Convenient electronic shift "on-the-fly" (ESOF) is fitted to all 4x4 models and allows the driver to move between high-range two-wheel drive, high-range four-wheel drive and low-range four-wheel drive using only a centre console-mounted switch.

For maximum traction in off-road conditions, an electronic locking rear differential is fitted to all Wildtrak and XLT 4x4 models as standard equipment. This feature will also be available for the XL 4x4 manual as a factory-fitted option with an MLP of $500. This easy-to-use feature is activated by a simple dashboard-mounted button.

Safety

All models in the all-new Ranger line-up come fitted with a raft of active and passive safety features, including:

Dynamic Stability Control (DSC) with Roll-over Mitigation (ROM); Hill Launch Assist (HLA); traction control; load adaptive control; and trailer sway control
Anti-lock brakes (ABS)
Electronic Brake-force Distribution (EBD)
Emergency Brake Assist (EBA)
Emergency brake lights (that flash during an emergency braking manoeuvre)

Driver and front passenger airbags will be standard equipment on all models. Front seat side airbags and curtain airbags will be standard equipment on all models except the XL single cab chassis, where it will be optionally available for vehicles fitted with front bucket seats.

Driver and passenger Beltminder will be standard on all models, except XL single cab chassis which has a standard driver Beltminder and optional passenger Beltminder

Model variants

The all-new Ranger's model series is designed to offer customers great value and the right vehicle for their needs. The model series is summarised below.

XL
A modern and well-appointed worker loaded with value and capability. Features include:

16-inch steel wheels
Bluetooth®1 with voice control
MP3 and iPod2 connectivity
4.2-inch multi-function dashboard-mounted colour screen
Cruise control with steering wheel-mounted buttons
Power front windows and exterior rear-vision mirrors
Remote keyless entry

XLT
Outstanding truck credentials in a refined and feature-rich package. Features over the XL include:

17-inch alloy wheels
Locking rear differential
Rain-sensing windscreen wipers
Dual-zone climate control
Electrochromatic rear-vision mirror
Rear parking sensors
Tray bedliner with integrated 12V socket (double cab only)
Polished rear roll bar
Towbar
Privacy glass
Cooled centre console

- Wildtrak
A sporty double-cab pick-up packed with the latest in-car comfort, convenience and technology. Features over the XLT include:

18-inch alloy wheels
Satellite navigation with 5-inch multi-function dashboard-mounted colour display
Rear-view camera with display in interior rear-view mirror
Combined leather and fabric upholstery
Eight-way power front seats, heated
Unique sports bar and roof rails

The 4x2 Hi-Rider pick-up models will be available in all three body styles and XL specification. In XLT specification it will only be available with a super cab body. Opting for the 4x2 hi-rider version in XL specification gives customers the following features:

Higher ride height for improved ground clearance
Volumetric alarm
Front seat side airbags and curtain airbags for both outer occupant seating rows (super- and double-cab models)
Hi-Rider decal (super cab only)

Australian Manufacturer’s List Pricing

The all-new Ranger's Australian MLPs are summarised below. *All prices stated below are Manufacturer's List Price and include GST and LCT (where applicable) but exclude all on-road costs including registration, stamp duty, compulsory third party insurance, any other applicable statutory charges and dealer delivery fee.



Where noted as an available option, the six-speed automatic transmission has an MLP of $2,000 for both 4x2 and 4x4 models.

+Cab-chassis models do not include a rear tray. Customers are advised to check with an authorised Ford dealer for tray pricing closer to the all-new Ranger's release date.

Australian model release timing

The first models to be released in Australia this October will be the 3.2-litre turbo-diesel-powered double cab 4x4 in both XL and XLT specification. All other models will be introduced between October 2011 and quarter one 2012.

Bluetooth® is a registered trademark of Bluetooth SIG Inc., and is used under licence.
iPod is a registered trademark of Apple Inc. Please refer to ford.com.au for iPod compatibility.

[Polyal]

Im not sure how it all stacks up against the competition, but they are not a shrinking violet thats for sure.

I dont like the need for this line though..."has been comprehensively developed to meet the specific needs of Australian ute and light truck customers".

[mcnews]

The Guff
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[mcnews]

Images

[Rodge]

Thanks Trev, looks like a handy peice of kit.

[mcnews]

Personally, it would be nice if they could do something like this on Territory underpinnings as I fear this, like all the others, will drive and handle more like a truck, than like a road car with reasonable dynamics.
But I guess this is aimed at mines and tradies and they are accustomed to driving things that are, well, crap to drive. Nice interior though, steering wheel looks a bit naff, but overall makes the Territory and Falcon interiors look pretty crap.

[Yellow_Festiva]

Very nice! Not a bad starting price either. Love the "angry face" look to the front of it as well.

Any word on warranty? Bit too small to find in the specs sheet.

[Simple6]

Air conditioning an option on the base model?

[Rodge]

Well to be fair Trev FG is 3.5 years old now so its no surprise the latest interiors from Ford America make it look dated. Comparison with FG2 will be more relevant.

[mcnews]

True, the FG is a bit old hat, and perhaps it will get better with FG II but new Territory apparently has FGII Falcon interior and it is still dated. Look at the new Focus interior etc. also to see how crap the Aussie car interiors are. And I don't know about Ford America design, I reckon this has been done by Mazda, thus why it looks modern.

[WASP]

Had a drive in an 3.2 XLT the other day. What a fantastic vehicle!

[Rodge]

OT Trev, but did I tell you I met up with Paul Cook head engineer and head of product development recently when he was over here and one of the questions I asked him was, the F6 has had 310 on the back for over 3 years now, are you guys working on giving it more power ? Obviously he didn't give anything away but with a broad grin he said "We're always working hard"

FG2 F6 330 just around the corner... I think so

Who cares if the interior with FPV's isn't quite cutting edge

[Yellow_Festiva]

Originally Posted by fowlerj

Air conditioning an option on the base model?

After zooming in the screen that seems to be the case.

[mcnews]

Originally Posted by Rodge

FG2 F6 330 just around the corner... I think so

LOL, with 730Nm of torque at the tyres before 3000rpm currently Rodge I don't think I will be updating any time soon for some bigger figure on a badge :-)

[Rodge]

Fair enough mate

[PHANTMXR6]

How do those prices compare to the latest Mazda equivelant?

[Burnout]

Originally Posted by Polyal

I dont like the need for this line though..."has been comprehensively developed to meet the specific needs of Australian ute and light truck customers".

Ominous quote!
I'm concerned it will be just another knuckle dragging kidney smasher.....

[malazn mafia]

Originally Posted by mcnews

True, the FG is a bit old hat, and perhaps it will get better with FG II but new Territory apparently has FGII Falcon interior and it is still dated. Look at the new Focus interior etc. also to see how crap the Aussie car interiors are. And I don't know about Ford America design, I reckon this has been done by Mazda, thus why it looks modern.

Compared with VE interior and Aurion/Camry, the FG is still ahead. Pity the rest of the Ford range make the FG look dated still.

[Luke Plaizier]

The Mitsubishi Triton is a full time AWD with locking diffs. So some questions.

(1) Is the new Ranger a full time AWD? Or does it spend it's road-time in 2WD and only go 4WD in the rough stuff? I suspect the latter given the 'easily switchable' mode comments in the brochure.

(2) I see that the rear diff is lockable as an option on the lower models, and standard on the new models. I'll take it then that the centre is always locked if it's mainly a 2WD model from (1). What's the front diff? Lockable? LSD? Open?

(3) Finally - wIll the ABS module intervene on excessive off-road wheel spin like the Territory does? Or will we be relying totally on the diff lock/LSD to do that on the Ranger? A combination of both would intrigue me. If it has electronic wheelspin control on models without the lockable rear diff - would you bother to option the lock if you were just a casual offroader?


Lukeyson

[nstg8a]

less than 20k for the 4x2 povo spec ute will sell plenty id say... even the great wall utes are only 2k less than that.

[Bossxr8]

They have made the base model price very sharp, basically matching Hilux.

But the top spec Wildtrak is over 7k more expensive than the top spec SR5 Hilux. Looks like they have followed the same trend as SZ Territory by making the base model cheap and jacking up the price of the upper spec models to compensate.

[drew`SEVNT5]

Originally Posted by Bossxr8

They have made the base model price very sharp, basically matching Hilux.

But the top spec Wildtrak is over 7k more expensive than the top spec SR5 Hilux. Looks like they have followed the same trend as SZ Territory by making the base model cheap and jacking up the price of the upper spec models to compensate.

I thought SR5 was 60++?

I think I would still buy the Amarok, or Navara.

[mcnews]

Amarok only has a 2 litre though doesn't it? An impressive 2-litre, but a 2-litre all the same.

[Yellow_Festiva]

Originally Posted by mcnews

Amarok only has a 2 litre though doesn't it? An impressive 2-litre, but a 2-litre all the same.

Yup, 2L TT.

[Poetic Justice]

New updated model Hilux SR5 is 50990 manual and 53490 auto (turbo diesel) which now includes sat nav and climate control.

Ranger seems expensive! the XL 2.5 petrol is $750 dearer than the cheapest Hilux also.

[Yellow_Festiva]

Originally Posted by SCUD

New updated model Hilux SR5 is 50990 manual and 53490 auto (turbo diesel) which now includes sat nav and climate control.

Ranger seems expensive! the XL 2.5 petrol is $750 dearer than the cheapest Hilux also.

This is why I was asking before about warranty. How do they compare? Does the Toyota capped price servicing also cover Hilux?

Does the cheapest Hilux have Air-con, as it seems the entry Ranger does not.

If Ford can't match the competition price wise it needs other incentives that benefit the buyer to get bodies through the door. Having said that, this is an area that Ford as a whole are very poor at providing.

[Poetic Justice]

3 year, 100,000km warranty with three years (6 services) capped servicing for $170 a pop.

Only the top of the range SR5 Hilux has airconditioning as standard. It is an optional extra on all other models.

I would say that this new genre of dual cab utes is the justification for the price on the Ranger. This big bulky look and what not is probably costing more in materials etc. I expect when the next Hilux is due which is not that long away I've read on various internet pages that it will follow suit. Ford/Mazda have done it, Holden's next Colorado is following that path and the Amarok is a big unit.

[Polyal]

Originally Posted by Burnout

Ominous quote!
I'm concerned it will be just another knuckle dragging kidney smasher.....

Yes, if previous pickups are anything to go by then pack ya pillows.

BUT, FoA have a great chassis team, and Im assuming have used some experience from the heavier duty falcons ride and tried to find some middle ground.

First and foremost these should be work cars, although interesting that perhaps many families are buying in as the "getaway" and utility car aswell and perhaps having a small/medium car for the around town stuff. I know people in my area have done that.

Now FPV just need to work on a V8 version

Scud is correct, the new ranger is another evolution of the breed IMO and will be the bench mark for a while.

[Poetic Justice]

If it has leaf spring suspension it's never going to be that comfortable.

[Giant Cranium]

re price of the wildtrack compared to the sr5

it seems to me that the xlt is the same as the sr5 and wild track is more a triton gls and navara 550