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New Ford Ranger touches down – 2022 Motoring Newsmaker No 5
Blue Oval's next generation bakkie brings new ammunition to its ongoing battle against Toyota Hilux.
The new Ford Ranger means business.
The South African motoring industry in 2022 proved once again that Mzansi is undoubtedly bakkie country.
While there were lots of activity in the SUV, hatchback and sedan segments, it was the bakkies that got the most attention.
Bakkie news spanned from Peugeot’s re-entry into the segment by virtue of the Landtrek, the first Jeep bakkie in the form of the Gladiator and the hottest production Toyota Hilux yet to the all-new Isuzu D-Max, Ford Ranger and Volkswagen Amarok.
In fact, five of the ten most popular motoring topics on The Citizen’s website this year were bakkies. Over the last 10 days of December, The Citizen Motoring looks back at these five along with the rest of the top 10 Motoring Newsmakers of 2022.
Ford Ranger boosts economy
Coming in at number five on our list is the new Ranger. Apart from being good-looking, very capable and a technologically advanced bakkie, the Ranger is also a boost for the South African economy.
An investment of almost R16 billion was poured into the Ford Ranger’s local productions operations, which includes the assembly plant in Silverton and engine plant in Gqeberha. The investment not only created over 1 000 new jobs, but also another 10 000 in the supplier network.
Back to the bakkie itself, it is as good as anticipated. Road Test Editor Mark Jones called it “the new benchmark for bakkies” after driving it for the first time during its local launch earlier this month.
More power
With the addition of a 184kW/600Nm 3.0-litre V6 engine to the line-up, the Ford Ranger now holds a power advantage over its archrival the Toyota Hilux.
Toyota did recently add a 165 kW GR-S variant to its Hilux range and it will be interesting to see how it compares to the V6 Ford Ranger during a high-performance test. Watch this space.
The rest of our 2022 Motoring Newsmakers are
No 10 – New Range Rover rolls in
No 8 – Kona N the new Golf GTI killer
