The first batch of Ford Ranger utes has arrived in Australia ahead of its launch in July.
A set of photos published on the Ford Ranger Next Gen Owners Group on Facebook reveals a couple of rows of next-generation Rangers sitting at the Port of Adelaide.
Those at the front of the rows appear to mostly be Wildtrak models, at least one of which is equipped with the $1500 Wildtrak Premium Pack that includes matrix LED headlights.
Ford is advising customers that Ranger arrivals will now begin in July, with the Ranger Raptor following in August.
The company had previously said these models were arriving in June and July, respectively, but COVID-19 lockdowns in China had interrupted the supply of various components.
Ford said the Chinese COVID lockdown has affected 91 suppliers and 393 unique parts used on the Ranger.
As the Ranger is typically Australia’s second best-selling vehicle, behind only its Toyota HiLux rival, there’s plenty of demand for the new ute.
Some dealers have been charging higher-than-usual delivery fees, which has led Ford Australia to encourage customers to shop around.
The company has said it neither sets these fees nor recommends a fee amount, which has led its franchise dealers to charge as little as $903 and as much as $5995 – according to buyers on social media.
One prospective owner who contacted CarExpert said they were charged a $1895 delivery fee in December 2020 when they ordered their last Ranger, but their new Ranger order from the same dealership has a $3500 fee attached.
“While dealer delivery fees are set independently by dealers, we are keen to remind customers that we have more than 180 dealers nationwide and they are welcome to work with a dealer of their choice,” said a spokesperson for Ford Australia.
“We also have a new online configurator at ford.com.au, so customers can put in their postcode, configure their vehicle and get an estimated drive-away price, which includes an estimated dealer delivery charge.”
When pricing a Ranger on the Ford Australia website, a dealer delivery fee of $2140 is listed regardless of state or territory.
Dealer delivery is a catch-all cost that covers the time and labour involved in cleaning, inspecting, and handing over a car to the customer, given cars aren’t provided to dealers in a customer-ready state.
These charges vary from dealer to dealer and can be set by the dealer to inflate the drive-away price without affecting the recommended retail price set by the manufacturer.
In April 2022, Ford revealed full pricing for the Ranger line-up. You can read our detailed price and specs article here.
The core range starts at $35,930 before on-road costs for the XL single-cab-chassis in standard high-rider body-style, and extends to $70,190 before on-road costs for the Wildtrak with the meaty V6 turbo-diesel.
The turbo-petrol V6-powered Ranger Raptor is priced from $85,490 before on-road costs.
The 2022 Ford Ranger line-up consists of the XL, XLS, XLT, Sport, Wildtrak and Raptor specification grades, and offers four engine choices all exclusively mated with automatic transmissions.
Ranger Raptor
The headliner diesel is Ford’s 3.0-litre turbo-diesel V6 that produces 184kW of power and 600Nm of torque. A revised 2.0-litre bi-turbo diesel four-cylinder makes 154kW (down 3kW) and a familiar 500Nm, while the base 2.0-litre turbo-diesel four-cylinder makes 125kW and 403Nm.
The V6 diesel costs $3000 more than the 2.0-litre bi-turbo four-cylinder alternative.
The new-gen Ranger Raptor switches out the outgoing model’s bi-turbo four-cylinder diesel for a 3.0-litre twin-turbo V6 petrol engine that produces 292kW and 583Nm.
XLS 
XL
Like the previous Ranger, this new-generation model was designed and engineered for the world by Ford’s Australian engineering division.
It uses an updated version of the T6 architecture but takes big strides when it comes to technology.
A version with a longer tub has also been spied testing, though it’s unclear if it’ll be offered in Australia.
As we know, this new Ranger will also be the base for the next-generation Volkswagen Amarok, which will be revealed on July 7.
MORE: Everything Ford Ranger
