Be wise – personalise with Fords lifestyle and performance catalogue

“Our goal was to create the most comprehensive, factory-backed accessory catalogue we’ve ever had – expanding the versatility of Ranger and Everest for our customers and allowing them to work, play and explore with family,” said Michael Karageorgiou, vehicle personalisation director, International Markets Group, Ford.

“We’ve got you covered – whether you need a bakkie that can carry all of your work equipment, or a vehicle you can load up with camping gear at the end of the week and enjoy some open-air living with your onboard kitchen and rooftop tent.”

Close collaboration between Ford and leading aftermarket brands to co-develop accessories that carry a factory warranty when fitted by Ford dealers means customers can personalise their vehicle with confidence. Parts have been designed for easy integration, while the Ford design studio worked closely with companies to ensure accessories complemented the look and function of the next-gen Ranger and Everest.

“We’ve made it extremely convenient to have Ford genuine and licensed accessories fitted by your Ford dealer,” said Karageorgiou.

“You no longer have to search all across the aftermarket to get what you need. You can get your personalised vehicle straight out of the box from your Ford dealer, or afterwards once you’ve had a chance to work out what you want, and you have the peace of mind that it is all backed by Ford.

“We’re also working to expand the catalogue beyond launch for off-road and touring. And we’ll continue to expand our comprehensive range of tough work accessories,” he said.

More choices to personalise

Collaborating with the aftermarket was key in helping Ford customers tap into the full potential of the next-gen Ranger and Everest, according to Dave Burn, performance, customisation and special vehicle chief programme engineer, Ford.

“You only need to look around your local shopping mall carpark to see just how many bakkies or pick-ups, and SUVs have aftermarket bull bars, wheels and lift kits fitted,” Burn said.

“Many people significantly accessorise their vehicles to suit their personal and work needs, so it was important that we engaged with these enthusiasts to see what we could do to help.

“We’ve traditionally engineered everything ourselves to ensure quality and performance standards were up to our expectations,” he added.

“But we also recognised that there were aftermarket companies out there that our customers were passionate about, that had excellent brand recognition and reputation for quality in their fields – and that we could collaborate with through the Ford licensed accessory programme.”

Torture tested

“We’ve focused on making sure that the next-gen models of Ranger and Everest are the most accessory-ready yet,” said Nathan Medbury, customisation supervisor, Ford Ranger and Everest.

“Coming together early with aftermarket companies meant we could bring the best of the aftermarket and the best of Ford, and work together to collaborate and develop the most seamlessly integrated accessory and vehicle offering that we’ve ever had.”

To ensure accessories worked exactly the way customers expected, extensive computer-aided engineering (CAE) work was carried out exploring durability, safety and airflow. Once prototype products were crafted, an extensive real-world test programme began.

“We made sure we actually went out and used the vehicles as our customers use them. We took the cars and for two weeks we went to the Victorian high country and we lived out of them, off the grid, camping, and doing every track that we could possibly think of,” Medbury explained.

“We also conducted a number of rolling road tests for thermal performance and a significant crash test programme.”

Customer feedback was extremely important throughout the process, helping to refine the final design of a number of features – from the location of the air compressor chuck to make it easier to attach the hose, to the fine-tuning of the sound quality from the snorkel.

“On one of our engineering field evaluations, we invited along some key members from vehicle owner groups we’d been speaking with,” Medbury said.

“We wanted to demonstrate how the accessories had been designed to integrate with the vehicle and demonstrate how Ford had responded to their previous feedback.

“Their response was overwhelmingly positive, and they were really impressed with what we’d achieved. They said, ‘this was exactly what we told you we wanted when we caught up with you, and you’ve done it. It all bolts on and is integrated, and we can’t believe that you did this,’” said Medbury.

Personalisation ready

“We know that our customers will want to personalise their vehicles to suit their individual needs, so in addition to a broad catalogue of accessories, we ensured that we made it easier to upfit the vehicle” said Medbury.

For example, certain next-gen Rangers come standard with six upfitter switches on the overhead console to make aftermarket customisation easy. The pre-wired switches are connected to the power distribution box, and each circuit is individually fused from 10A to 30A with circuits placed in locations around the vehicle commonly used for the fitment of after-market equipment with two sets of blunt cut sealed circuits under the hood (near the radiator support and the fuse box) and one at the rear of the bakkie, close to the trailer hitch. A five auxiliary switch bank accessory also will be available for other models with similar capacity to support installation of a variety of different accessories customers may desire.

There’s also a dedicated space under the bonnet of certain models of both Ranger and Everest for the installation of a second battery, when you fit a Ford licensed auxiliary battery kit, for use as a power source to keep accessories running, such as fridges or camp lighting.

Next-gen Ranger and Everest customers will have an enormous catalogue of accessories to choose from to personalise their vehicle. They can have these fitted at the time of purchase or can build their dream vehicle in stages over time via their Ford dealership.

“The outcome is a suite of accessories fully integrated with the vehicle that enables our customers the lifestyle and the experience they want, with the peace of mind that they are backed by a factory warranty and service from Ford’s comprehensive dealer network,” said Karageorgiou.

Source: QuickPic