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Popular bakkies like Ford Ranger and Toyota Hilux are more likely to have targets on their backs.
Customers can choose which doors of their vehicles they want armoured. Picture: SVI
What you see here is South Africa’s Ford Ranger, the only challenger to the Toyota Hilux.
By simple sales numbers, in other words how many of them are on our roads, your chances of being hijacked in a Ford Ranger or a Toyota Hilux for that matter, is statistically higher than in a Nissan Navara, a Mitsubishi Triton or even any Chinese bakkie.
But what do you do if you don’t have tenderpreneur or gangster-type money and your neighbours actually like you? But you still want to feel so much safer in your vehicle on a daily basis?
Well, this is where SVI Engineering, Mzansi’s leading specialist manufacturer of armoured products, comes in.
They know that the average South African motorist simply cannot afford the significant investment that can go anywhere from R750 000 to over R1-million that a full-on B4 and B6 discreet armouring packages require. Because of this, they have introduced their all-new SVI LITE product range.
Ford Ranger gets door and window protection
Slotting in below the 360-degree armouring packages but well above common smash-and-grab window film, SVI LITE was conceived with the hijacking of everyday cars and bakkies in mind.
Because of this specific requirement, your Ford Ranger’s side windows and doors deliver level B2 protection, which is rated to stop a normal 9mm, 124-grain round.
ALSO READ: Armoured Ford Ranger tough enough for Dricus du Plessis
The ballistic glass is light enough to allow the standard operation of your electric windows. And they go all the way down so that you are not stuck in a parking garage or complex and you can’t get your arm out to get the boom gate to open.
You can also choose if you want to do only the driver’s door, two doors, or all of them. The Ford Ranger’s doors get precisely shaped and fully concealed Kevlar panels. The standard window glass is also replaced with special lightweight armoured glass.
Protecting the vitals
“In much the same way as a bullet-resistant vest provides protection to vital organs of the human body, our new SVI LITE solution covers critical areas of the vehicle that are typically targeted during a hijacking attempt,” explains SVI business development director, Nicol Louw.
The lead time for SVI LITE fitment is currently two weeks. But the company is working on shortening this lead time to a single day.
They will be taking orders for installations starting from the beginning of May.
The cost to armour one closure (one door and window) of your Ford Ranger is R64 950, excluding VAT.
ALSO READ: Armoured Ford Ranger Raptor still miles ahead of VW Amarok
The company is all over social media and you can contact them at nicol@svi.co.za.
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