The Toyota LandCruiser 79 Series has sat at the top of Australian work truck piles for over forty years. Miners. Farmers. Tradesmen. They all drove it. But that trust isn’t eternal.
Ford built the Ranger Super Duty in Australia. Specifically to kill the 70. Or at least outwork it.
According to Ford’s own books, the new local baby is doing more than hanging around. It has actually outsold the LandCruiser 78 in the first three months of this year. Since November last year thousands of people have bought into the concept.
“It is a class of its own… nothing delivers this combination of capability,” Ford marketing boss Ambrose Henderson told reporters recently.
Henderson wasn’t wrong about the momentum. Ford says they handed over thousands of keys since launch. The Q1 sales beat is real. Even if the data looks a little messy on Toyota’s side.
Toyota sold 1,287 LandCruiser 70 series utes in that same quarter. Per VFACTS. But they lump wagon sales with the 300 series numbers. That makes it hard to get a clean picture of the wagon sales. Or the troop carrier variants. Ford refuses to show its exact numbers too. You have to take Henderson at his word.
Why the gap? The Ford is new. Shiny. The 70 looks like it came straight out of a time capsule from 1981.
But wait. The Ford still lacks some shapes. No five-door wagon. No Troop carrier. Just cabs. And initially only the base cab-chassis model.
Now things change. Pickup versions are rolling off the dock this week. Both standard and the nicer XLT trim.
Henderson sees pent-up demand. Lots of it. People want to tow. To haul. To carry heavy things across the continent in comfort.
Then there is the military angle. This could be big. Ford is already talking to governments in the US and Europe. Not just Australia. They want defense contracts. Law enforcement too.
The idea is simple. Military hardware is expensive. Years to build. Ford sells you a truck off the shelf. Cheap. Fast. Good tech.
“Security is collaborative… the Ford Ranger is built and sold around the globe.”
If the Americans or Europeans buy these, the Australian Defense Force might follow suit. Allies like standardization. Spare parts are easier to share when everyone drives the same ute.
Ford isn’t hiding the engineering specs. They spent months testing this beast in Australian dirt.
Thicker chassis rails. Reinforced steel everywhere. Cast aluminum suspension arms. Heavy-duty leaf springs. The diffs are beefier. The driveshafts thicker. Even the fuel tank wears armor plating to stop punctures.
Power comes from the 3.0-liter turbodiesel V6. It makes 154 kilowatts and 600 Nm of torque. A 10-speed auto handles the work. Four-wheel drive with low range is standard.
If you want nice things inside… well get the XLT. Leather bits. Heated and ventilated seats. Carpeted floors. All-weather mats. Big alloys with all-terrain tires.
Pricing starts at $82,99 before on-road costs. For a bare bones single-cab. Add bodies for $350 a piece. The XLT double cab pickup hits the ceiling at $999 for now.
Does the Ford kill the LandCruiser legacy? Maybe. Maybe not.
But the message is loud. The era of unchallenged Toyota dominance in the heavy work sector? It’s cracked. And Ford is waiting with more metal.
