Ford Ranger 2012 News

That's twice the number Ford predicted would try out its "Smart Drive" program and has prompted the carmaker to already book the sole outdoor venue for next year's Melbourne Motor Show.Sydney showgoers could take a 10-minute drive of the Focus Titanium, Kuga and Ranger Wildtrak around a specially constructed course that highlighted key technologies and capabilities of the vehicles."The outdoor 'Smart Drive' has been a smash hit with showgoers. Even foot traffic walking past the Darling Harbour Convention Centre are stopping in to drive the cars on display," Ford Australia CEO Bob Graziano says."We had anticipated completing 3000 test drives across the entire motor show but we hit that number after the first weekend." The active park assist was the most popular feature in the Focus, closely followed by the automated emergency braking system dubbed Active City Stop. The Ford Kuga compact crossover's touch-free tailgate opening system also copped a pounding. Ford spokesman Neil McDonald says the same car was used throughout the show and cycled through more than 3000 displays of opening and closing its tailgate in response to a foot-wave under the rear bumper. The Ranger Wildtrak's hill ascent/decent software was also showcased, using a short but steep hill.The outdoor track was marked out by shipping containers and up to seven vehicles at a time could be put through the course. "We're rapt. It definitely exceeded our projections and we're already thinking about the next one," McDonald says. That has included booking the outdoor venue at the Melbourne event for 2013, effectively locking its rivals out of what has instantly become one of the highlights of the show. 

The new hirings are the first good news on the staffing front following Ford's $103 million cash injection in January to continue development of the local Falcon and Territory.The Territory also gets a major boost next week when it stars at the Bangkok Motor Show to gauge the potential for sales across the Asian region.The new engineers at Ford will not be permanent staff but, like many motor industry employees today, contractors who are hired for the duration of a specific project."We are in the process of recruiting for approximately 25 new engineers in our digital Innovation  - that's CAD, CAE etc - area," Ford spokesperson, Sinead Phipps, reveals to Carsguide."The new hires will primarily be contractors, as is largely prevalent in product development due to the cyclical nature of the workloads and industry."The jobs include places for both exterior and interior designers, power train experts and chassis specialists.Although Phipps is not specific about the appointments, an advertisement by Ford Australia stresses the focus at Broadmeadows on work for the Asia-Pacific region and the successful F6 pickup program that produced the latest Ford Range and Mazda BT-50 and will eventually lead to an SUV spinoff."We’re recruiting at the moment to support a number of projects the product development team is working on, including global vehicle development work, as well as our continued development of Falcon and Territory," Phipps says.The display at Bangkok is the first time the Territory has been seriously touted outside Australia and it's being promoted as a 'premium SUV' for Asian customers. It is being displayed as a fully-loaded seven-seater powered by the latest 2.7-litre diesel engine.