Why Ford hasn’t (yet) launched the Ranger PHEV in SA
The head of Ford in South Africa has explained why the locally built Ranger PHEV is still not sold in Mzansi, before revealing the brand is looking at a potential introduction “very carefully”…
- SA-built Ranger PHEV still not sold here
- Ford’s local boss calls for NEV incentives
- Brand “continues to evaluate” derivative
The Ford Ranger PHEV was revealed over 3 years ago and is (for the time being, anyway) exclusively produced at the Blue Oval brand’s factory in Silverton, right here in South Africa. Why then is this plug-in hybrid bakkie – which has since been surpassed in the power stakes by a handful of Chinese PHEV contenders – still not available to new-vehicle buyers in Mzansi?
Well, Neale Hill, President of Ford Motor Company Africa, laid out the reasons during a wide-ranging interview in Cars.co.za’s custom-built podcast booth at Naamsa’s SA Auto Week 2026 event in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal earlier in October.
“It comes back to the fact that we don’t have any incentives or any drive within South Africa that’s pushing for the adoption of new-energy vehicles. So, if you look at markets where there’s been dramatic growth in new-energy vehicles, there’s not only a production element – in terms of encouraging production – but there’s also a demand-side stimulation,” he said.
This suggests that without local-market incentives, Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa believes the Ranger PHEV would potentially be priced higher than is feasible – despite being built locally. Interestingly, this model (which Ford’s SA factory currently exports to Europe and Australia) is due to enter production at the brand’s Pacheco plant in Argentina in 2027.