Ford is investing heavily in its South African production. The manufacturer is investing just under € 900 million in the production facilities in Silverton.
Ford is currently building the Ranger in Silverton, South Africa. Not only for local sales, because ‘our’ Rangers also come from there. The facility there will be faced with more work in the coming years. After all, the next generation of the Ranger will arrive in 2022 and that will be a twin brother of a new pick-up from Volkswagen. The successor to the Amarok will roll off the line in the same factory as the Ranger. That is why the production capacity has to increase from 168,000 cars to 200,000 annually.
The investment entails more. Of course, expansion goes hand in hand with more manpower; 1,200 jobs will be added in Silverton. In total, when everything has gone right, a total of 5,500 people will work in Silverton. Suppliers to the Ford plant are estimated to gain a total of 10,000 employees to facilitate the expansion. The factory is also being modernized extensively. This should improve the quality of the products, but also contribute to a more climate-friendly course of events. In 2024, Ford hopes to operate in Silverton in a self-sufficient and CO2-neutral way.