Ford announced the expansion of their pickup truck lineup in China with the addition of the mid-sized Ranger model, starting in 2018.
The company will launch their ‘Built Ford Tough’ range of pickup trucks in the Chinese market in a bid to grow their presence in the country’s emerging pickup scene.
“We’re very excited to bring Built Ford Tough, one of the world’s best loved and most successful brands, to customers in the world’s largest auto market,” said Mark Fields, Ford president and CEO. “We see a significant white-space opportunity with Chinese buyers increasingly looking for more capable, more refined and more stylish pickups.”
Although currently the pickup truck segment in China represents less than two percent of the market, China has already become the fourth largest truck market in the world, scoring a 14 percent growth last year.
The Ford Ranger is already the company’s best-selling midsize pickup truck in Europe, South Africa and New Zealand and the second best-selling midsize truck globally outside North America. With a track record like this, Ford feels confident that the Ranger will become a hit with its Chinese customers, once it arrives there in 2018.
As for the F-150 Raptor, Ford will announce its local price on a special event tomorrow, April 8, in Shanghai. “The F-150 Raptor has created a lot of buzz among Chinese customers since it was revealed for the first time last year and we are extremely excited to have it arriving in our showrooms in China, ready to be delivered to customers,” said Peter Fleet, vice president of Marketing, Sales and Service, Ford Asia Pacific.
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