Ford’s most important new vehicle launch in years has hit a snag.
A bulletin sent to dealers confirms production of the 2022 Ford Ranger has been affected by COVID-19 lockdowns in China.
Dealers will have fewer examples of the new Ranger to sell than initially forecast. As a flow-on, wait times for customers in the queue for a new Ranger will likely be extended – although by how much isn’t clear.
Launch timing for the new Ranger hasn’t been delayed, however.
“Next Gen Ranger Q2 production has been negatively impacted as a result of some major cities in China now being under COVID lockdown,” reads the confidential bulletin, dated April 27, 2022, which has been shared on Facebook.
“Unfortunately, a portion of the expected Q2 production volume will need to be re-calendarised [sic], with detailed impact to production expected to be available over the next fortnight.
“The production loss from Q2 has delayed the anticipated timing of the April allocation (for July production) as we assess the latest information available and is now expected on Dealer status the morning of Thursday 28th April.
“As a flow on effect of production loss from Q2, a portion of the April Dealer allocation (for July production) will now need to be dedicated to build existing Dealer orders from earlier allocations, decreasing the volume available to allocate to Dealers in April.”
Ford says the Chinese COVID lockdown has affected 91 suppliers and 393 unique parts used on the Ranger.
The company announced earlier this month it would start sales of the new Ranger in June, releasing full pricing for the range. You can view our detailed price and specs article here.
The core range starts at $35,930 before on-road costs for the XL single-cab-chassis workhorse in standard high-rider body-style, right up to $70,190 for the Wildtrak weekend warrior grade with its new V6 diesel option.
The turbo-petrol V6 Raptor is priced at $85,490 before on-road costs.
Where direct like-for-like comparisons are possible, list pricing between the old and new Ranger models has increased by between $240 and $2240 – although in some cases such as the big-selling XLT BiTurbo, list pricing is actually unchanged.
The 2022 Ford Ranger includes XL, XLS, XLT, Sport, Wildtrak and Raptor specification grades, and offers four engine choices all solely available with automatic transmissions.
The headliner diesel is Ford’s 184kW and 600Nm 3.0-litre V6 diesel in XLT, Sport and Wildtrak grades. A revised 2.0-litre BiTurbo four-cylinder diesel makes 154kW (down 3kW) and a familiar 500Nm, while the base 2.0-litre single-turbo diesel makes 125kW and 403Nm.
The V6 diesel costs $3000 more than the 2.0-litre BiTurbo four-cylinder alternative.
The Ranger Raptor switches the old four-pot diesel for a 292kW and 583Nm 3.0-litre V6 turbo-petrol option, designed to make the vehicle hot-hatch fast on dirt.
Like the previous Ranger, this new model was designed and engineered for the globe in Australia by Ford’s local engineering division.
It uses an updated version of the familiar T6 architecture but takes big strides when it comes to technology, as well as power and torque.
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