Ford Appoints New Exec - Wait, It Actually Gets Interesting
Ford announced some HR news today, saying that Trevor Worthington has been appointed vice president, Global Product Development Operations & Vehicle Programs. Worthington has served as veep of Product Development for Asia Pacific since 2013. You may recognize that part of the Ford empire as the area which just got the Ranger Raptor.
Also today, Ford product guru and prolific tweeter Mike Levine promised “Some cool Ford Truck news coming later this week.”
Coincidence? We think not!
Okay, maybe we’re reading a bit too much into the whole thing. Still, with the Ford media drive of the new Ranger happening right now, check out what Worthington had to say during the Ranger Raptor media launch held halfway around the globe in his home country earlier this year.
“Our performance vehicles bring a different customer into Ford showrooms,” he said. “Ranger Raptor will help conquest new customers looking for a Ranger with immense off-road capability like no other.”
Alas, when questioned on the RR’s diesel powertrain, he also uttered this phrase:
“Well, we haven’t looked at that one [referring to a gas or diesel V6] because as I’ve said this morning, the vast majority of the 200 markets that we sell Ranger, and when I say a vast majority I mean 99 per cent are all diesel markets.”
Ah, well. Can’t stop us from hoping for the best. The man is clearly a fan of his company’s baby Raptor, saying to a New Zealand auto outlet earlier this year, “Whether it’s the traditional ‘winning the argument at the pub’, feeling really good about driving a vehicle that’s got credibility, that’s got real integrity about it, I think it’s really going to appeal to a lot of customers in that sense.”
Closer to home, we’ll take this opportunity to remind those that have been living under an especially virulent rock that Ford is going all-in on SUVs and pickup trucks in the American market. It would behoove them to bring as many versions of those machines as possible to our shores in an effort to capture as many customers as possible.
Presumably, as veep of Global Product Development Ops, Worthington — an Aussie who’s been with Ford for thirty years — will have a bit more sway in North American decisions that in his previous role. In his new job, he leads Ford’s global vehicle programs and is also responsible for coordinating the company’s product development resources to bring new products to market.
Ford, if you’re listening, I’ll take a Ranger Raptor in Ruby Red, please. My buddies in Colorado ZR2 and Tacoma TRD Pro pickups are waiting for me out on the trail.
[Image: Ford Motor Company]
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I've been out on trails and in bogs and muskeg and crossing water for 30 years. On dirt bikes, primarily, but also in my old FJ40 pickup; several Jeeps; my '84 F-150 that couldn't pull my boots off; and on a few quads. The only new truck I've ever seen out there was a Nissan Pathfinder. It had been stolen and was on its side, surrounded by the RCMP, in the main parking lot. No one, but no one, will take his or her new bush truck into the bush. It. Just. Doesn't. Happen. It'll look great in the Walmart parking lot, though.
That picture of the Ranger mid air looks like a crossover or typical minivan hit a jump. It does not make me very interested in their product. Not to mention the 1st gen Raptors proclivity to bend frames doing that very action.