US carmaker Ford Motor Co is realising its vision of introducing a premium pickup in Asia-Pacific, unveiling the Ranger Raptor in Thailand on Wednesday.
Yukontorn Wisadkosin, president of Bangkok-based Ford Asean, said the Ranger Raptor is positioned in the high-end segment of pickups, which has been extended from its flagship F-150 in the US market.
"The new Ranger Raptor is another pickup for off-road purposes, setting a benchmark for factory-built performance in Asia-Pacific. Thailand and South Africa have been chosen to produce this pickup," she said.
"Thailand has been chosen for the pickup's global debut, which is set to be on sale later this year."
The Thai-made Ranger Raptor will be exported across Asean and Oceania, along with other pickups produced in the country, she said.
Ms Yukontorn said the Ranger Raptor will have a larger price tag than other high-end models -- the Ranger XLT, from 879,000 to 1.03 million baht, and the Wildtrak, from 955,000 to 1.2 million.
But she said Ford is not ready to disclose a local price for the vehicle, or when production of the Ranger Raptor will begin at its two facilities in Rayong.
Ms Yukontorn said Ford will try to make the Ranger Raptor subject to the excise tax for pickups, which is cheaper than the rate for pickup passenger vehicles.
Ford ranks third in Thailand's highly competitive pickup segment after Isuzu and Toyota, respectively.
Last year, sales of the Ranger increased 44.5% to 44,452 vehicles, representing 79.2% of Ford's total sales in Thailand.
Of those increased sales, 80% went to high-end Ranger models.
Thailand was also Ford's best-selling Ranger market globally.
In 2017, the Ranger also picked up three percentage points in market share year-on-year, reaching 12.2%.
For January, Ms Yukontorn said the vehicle's market share reached 13.9%, which will help the company maintain its third-place ranking in Thailand's pickup segment.
In Asia-Pacific, the Ranger achieved all-time record sales in 2017, cementing its place as a leader in the region's highly competitive mid-size pickup segment, with retail sales increasing 22% year-on-year to 134,100 vehicles.
The record year was also driven by record full-year Ranger sales in Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam.
