Ford planning to add more shifts at the Michigan plant to meet the demand of Ranger

KUALA LUMPUR: Due to the immense demand in the US market, Ford plans to boost the production of the Ranger pickup truck. Kumar Galhotra, Ford’s president in North America, has told that the Michigan plant will run overtime shifts to meet the demand. However, the automaker has not confirmed the time as to when the overtime shifts will start.

The demand of the Ford Ranger pickup is rising rapidly as the manufacturer is expected to sell around 1,200 units in January 2019. There are approximately 300,000 enquiries for the pickup, including the bookings.

Ford also not provided the information on how many additional shifts and units will be produced. Despite having a strong presence during the 90s, the company dropped the Ranger from the US range. All this, despite the pickup leading the segment till 2004.

The manufacturer has plans to introduce the Ranger in 2019 again, but this time at a lower price point. It will be placed just below the F-150 pickup truck, which is more expensive and larger.

The Ford Malaysian spec Ford Ranger comes from the joint venture plant of Ford-Mazda, situated at Rayong in Thailand. The pickup was launched in the second half of 2018 with a total of nine variants. It carries a price tag between RM 90,888 and RM 134,888.

The strong demand for the Ranger pickup also reflects its success in the Malaysian market. Its market share has risen to 15 percent in the pickup segment in 2018. This market share is 1.4 percent higher than earlier.