The VPC will initially offer four options, including two variants of stylish canopy, a commercial canopy, and a manual roller shutter. The canopies will be available on all dual-cab Rangers, except for Platinum and Raptor models.
The New VPC is operated in partnership with RMA Automotive and is located near the port where the vehicles depart for Australia, ensuring that accessory fitment can typically occur within just two days of a vehicle completing its build.
Accessories fitted at the facility will be the same Ford Genuine Accessories and Ford Licensed Accessories as are available at dealers, and backed by Ford's five-year, unlimited kilometre warranty2, ensuring that customers can enjoy their customised vehicle with the peace of mind that it is fully backed by Ford.
“We know Aussies love utes and we have developed the most comprehensive factory backed catalogue of accessories ever, expanding the versatility of Ranger for our customers and allowing them to use their vehicle for work or for play with family and friends. The new VPC is the next step at giving our customers the customised vehicles they want, straight out of the box,” said Michael Karageorgiou, Vehicle Personalisation Director, Ford International Markets Group.
“The VPC will complement the Ford Dealer Network by providing us the opportunity to offer customers a faster and seamless one-stop-shop solution for all their personalisation needs. Customers can now order select accessories through a Ford dealer knowing that their vehicle will arrive in Australia with the accessories fitted and ready to go.”
Customers will be able to start ordering VPC-fitted options from this month. The first vehicles with VPC-fitted options will arrive from May 2024, with first production scheduled for March 2024.
Reducing customer wait time
The new VPC also builds on the Company’s efforts to ease bottlenecks in the time vehicles take to reach customer, allowing Ford Dealers to expedite the delivery of vehicles to customers once they arrive in Australia.
The announcement follows Ford’s recent three-year lease of the Grand Quest vehicle carrier ship to more quickly deliver Rangers and Everests to new owners, with the ship having delivered more than 9,000 vehicles to date. Thousands of vehicles are expected to be fitted with canopies and roller shutters at the VPC to further speed up delivery once they reach Australia.
“We’re excited to offer Australian customers another convenient, factory-fit solution for customising their Ranger,” said Andrew Birkic, President and CEO, Ford Australia and New Zealand.
“Our customers are saying to us, ‘I want a vehicle to do everything – go to the worksite, head off-road, take the kids to sport.’ And that means they need a whole lot of additions to get their ute just the way they like it. The current challenge for all vehicle manufacturers is wait times, which is why we have decided to take advantage of downtime in Thailand to get the upfitting done, saving on logistics and speeding up delivery in Australia – a game changer for our customers.”
