Ford expects Ranger sales to grow thanks to EV ‘feebate’

As NZ Autocar reported yesterday, the Ford Ranger dominated the local new vehicle registration charts in October, recording almost twice as many sales as the next best-selling vehicle (the Toyota RAV4). 

It turns out, it was a record-breaking month for Ford. In a press release issued overnight, the firm announced that the 2077 vehicles it delivered in October represented an all-time monthly sales record … adding that the Ranger sold better than each other ute in the market combined. 

Supply nuances have obviously played a part in the below-par months that other marques had with their ute sales. Ford acknowledges that supply has shaped its sales, too, although in a slightly different way. 

In its release, it notes that most of its October sales were historical pre-orders from months and months ago. They note that sales could grow even higher thanks to the amount of people who pre-ordered a new ute following the government’s announcement of the Clean Car Standard feebate scheme. 

The scheme will see ‘high-emission vehicles’ like most utes incur a levy from January 2022 onwards in order to help subsidise discounts on low-emission vehicles like EVs, hybrids, and certain internal combustion engine vehicles. The announcement saw widespread condemnation from ute owners, with many tipping a surge in ute sales before the scheme comes into effect.

“Important to note – the majority of the Ranger sales were orders from before the government’s feebate announcement. We haven’t truly seen that spike yet since the majority of customers who may have been inspired to purchase on that news would still be waiting for delivery,” said a Ford New Zealand spokesperson.

Unsurprisingly, the Ranger is on target to achieve record sales in 2021. Assuming no disasters are looming on the horizon, the model is set to become the country’s most popular new vehicle for the seventh year on the trot. 

“We would first of all like to thank all our customers and dealers for their patience. We were very happy to be able to fulfill a massive backlog of orders we’ve had in the system, many stretching as far back as six months,” said Ford New Zealand managing director Simon Rutherford.

“Considering the enormous challenges faced in October not only in our industry but across the whole country, we are very proud of the achievement and again would like to thank all our customers for choosing Ford and all our dealer network for providing the fantastic customer service that has made it possible.

“The demand has been off the charts all year so we’re certainly glad to be able to fulfill so many orders. It’s an amazing result for the Ranger and speaks volumes to its capabilities, design and customer satisfaction. For that we’d have to go back and thank the Ford engineers and designers for building such an amazing vehicle that just gets better and better.

“While the Ford Ranger’s overwhelming popularity continues, we’re also happy to see success shared across several of our other vehicles, including a limited run of special Mustang RTR Series Twos that sold in less than a week. The Ford Everest continues to lead in its segment and our newest SUV, the Ford Puma, has outsold key rivals.” 

Ford’s set to launch its all-new 2022 Ranger later this month on November 24.