Ford gunning for Toyota LandCruiser 79 Series with new Ranger Super Duty
Ford Australia says the Toyota LandCruiser 79 Series is officially on notice with the introduction of the new Ford Ranger Super Duty, at the same time acknowledging that winning over Toyota’s legion of fans will take some convincing.
The new Ranger Super Duty arrives in Australia this month bearing impressive workhorse credentials on paper, including a 4.5-tonne braked towing capacity and an 8.0-tonne Gross Combination Mass, or GCM (the maximum total of weight of tow vehicle and trailer when fully loaded together).
Ford Australia believes those traits, together with extensive Australian testing, will draw buyers over from the Toyota LandCruiser 79 Series camp – the Super Duty’s main rival.
With the LandCruiser 79 Series doing away with its long-running V8 diesel powertrain in 2024 – reverting to the same 2.8-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel as the Toyota HiLux – you could argue Ford’s arrival on the scene couldn’t have been better timed.
“Clearly there’s the Toyota LandCruiser 79 Series,” said Ford Australia boss Andrew Birkic. “That plays very strongly in that segment.
“We think there’s also opportunity with cab-over trucks and full-size pick-ups as well. There’s a number of segments we’re looking at.
“We think it will draw from multiple segments but clearly there is a main competitor that does very well in that space [the 79 Series].”
The 79 Series and the Toyota LandCruiser nameplate in general is considered the golden goose in Toyota circles, thought to have amortised its development and engineering costs many years ago, and pulling consistently high sales for the Japanese giant.
Ford is fixated only on the single-cab and dual-cab versions of the Toyota LandCruiser at this stage, ruling out a Super Duty model based on its Everest SUV (akin to Toyota's LandCruiser Troop Carrier).
“The pay cheque is not open, so we’ve made an intentional decision to look at this truck,” Birkic said. “It’s got to be dictated by the customer demand and where we think we can do well.
“You never say never, but it’s not on the agenda right now.”
Birkic conceded Ford still had lots of work to do in convincing Toyota loyalists to switch to the blue oval camp, including rectifying issues with the existing Ranger line-up, including engine, transmission and driveline issues that have been well documented in customer forums.
“I think we've learned some lessons from some of those issues and we've addressed them in the field. We'll always do the right thing by that. And that we've just got to look after our customers,” Birkic said.
“The vehicle has been optimised, whether it's the engine or the braking for Super Duty. So that's where we start. It's been through rigorous testing and you know, we are confident that the vehicle's highly capable, not only in its attributes, but also in the quality.”
Asked exactly how Ford plans to steal sales from Toyota’s 79 Series, Birkic said: “I suppose it will take time. We've got a lot of Rangers out there in the field.
“We're quite lucky we've got a platform, we've got data to source on that. You've got to put them in customer’s hands and at some point, they get out, you know, that they move from the plant, they go on the boat, they arrive in the dealerships as they are right now, and then they go out to the customers and at the end of the day, you know, we'll be judged by that.
“We think we've got the right package to make an impact in this market. And, you know, ultimately, the customers will make that decision, so we'll wait and see how that plays out.”
