Inside Ford’s multi-billion rand mega-factory in Pretoria

·11 Apr 2016

Ford Motor Company is investing R2.5-billion to expand operations in South Africa at its Silverton Assembly Plant in Pretoria, South Africa, to produce the new Ford Everest SUV.

The plant is also the assembly line for new Ford Ranger, launched in the country at the end of last year.

The investment will create approximately 1,200 new jobs at Ford South Africa and within the South African supplier network, the company said. “Our customers love the capability and utility offered by the all-new Ford Everest,” said Jim Farley, Ford executive vice president and president of Europe, Middle East and Africa.

“By producing the Everest in South Africa, we will be able to make it more readily available, and in a greater variety of models, for customers throughout Sub-Saharan Africa.”

The Silverton facility joins AutoAlliance Thailand in Rayong; Ford’s Chennai plant in India (where it is sold as the Endeavor) and the JMC Xiaolan Plant in Nanchang, China, as production hubs for the Everest.

Initial production at Silverton of the Everest will commence in the third quarter of 2016, with the first units expected to come to market in the fourth quarter.

South African-produced models will be sold locally and exported to markets across Sub-Saharan Africa.

Part of this investment has been directed towards the production of the new Ranger, which is already running at maximum capacity at the Silverton Assembly Plant – with domestic sales and export demand at an all-time high.

The Silverton Assembly Plant features Ford’s global manufacturing processes, and will be equipped to produce 10,000 Everests per annum.

Currently, the Everest is imported from Thailand, using the locally produced 3.2-litre five-cylinder Duratorq TDCi engine. It is only available in South Africa in 3.2 Automatic guise in two specification levels – XLT and the range-topping Limited.

With the commencement of local production, a 2.2-litre Duratorq TDCi four-cylinder diesel engine will be added to the range, along with a wider spread of specification levels.

Built at Ford’s Struandale Engine Plant in Port Elizabeth, the latest-generation Duratorq TDCi diesel engines – which are also used in the new Ranger – offer maximum fuel economy along with exceptional performance.

In 2008, Ford announced plans to build the Ford Ranger at its Silverton Assembly Plant with an investment of R3.4 billion. The investment allowed Ford to transform both of its South African plants into world class facilities to produce the Ford Ranger and Duratorq TDCi engines for local consumption and export.