Features / 30 July 2022 / Michael Taylor

Ford readies up to build new Ranger in South Africa – Photos

The next-generation Ford Ranger is set to launch towards the end of this year, and it will be built locally at the Silverton Assembly Plant in Pretoria.

Alongside this highly-anticipated model, Ford has also reached an agreement with VW to build its new Amarok at the same production site.

Ford South Africa reported that the upgrades to its high-tech body shop are now complete, which is one of the final steps before production of the next-generation Ranger and Amarok kicks off.

New tech

Ford’s assembly plant now features a new body shop incorporating its highest-ever levels of automation and quality control, said the company.

“Building a new body shop was essential for the Silverton Assembly Plant to achieve our highest installed capacity to date of 200,000 vehicles per year,” said Ockert Berry, VP of Operations for Ford South Africa.

“This necessitated a much higher level of automation to reach our production targets, while also introducing the latest quality control systems and technologies that are essential for delivering consistent, world-class quality vehicles for our local and export customers.”

The 44,000m² factory floor will facilitate the creation of the various body panels for the next-gen vehicles, including the underbody, floor, roof, body sides, cab framing, and load box.

These panels will then shift across to the neighboring stamping plant, before all the parts are gathered and welded to the vehicle’s frame on a production line featuring 493 robots.

Robotic welding guarantees the highest level of consistency, employing the latest “adaptive controllers with servo guns” to deliver spatter-free body welds, said Ford.

The production line will be able to serve a variety of configurations for single-cab, super-cab, and double-cab units, as well as left-hand and right-hand drive specifications.

Quality control measures will scan the geometric shape of every unit on the production line and, following this, the completed Ranger will be moved over to the paint shop for the finishing touches.

A massive investment

Ford has invested R15.8 billion into its operations at Silverton, which will be producing the Ford Ranger both for domestic and over 100 different export markets.

The production team consists of 38 salaried and 500 hourly employees, and further skills training will take place on-site to bolster the newfound production capacity, said Ford.

“Being in a highly automated environment, ongoing skills development is a priority,” said Adheer Thakurpersad, body shop manager.

“Therefore, we have plans to install an advanced skills development facility in the body construction area, which will enable employees to continue developing their skills in automation and problem-solving.”