The Truth About Trucks Is Told in the Outback. Jim Farley Went Down Under to Hear It.

To beat our competition, we have to know them. That’s one of the reasons we recently traveled to Australia – one of the world’s most competitive pickup markets – to get an up-close look at our competitors, including longtime Japanese and Korean competitors and fast-growing Chinese brands. We also wanted to meet with some of Ford’s Australian customers that have made the Ford Ranger Australia’s best-selling vehicle for the past three years. 

In the United States, the F-150 is the iconic Ford truck, but for the rest of the world, it’s the Ranger. Last year, Ford sold 370,000 units globally, making it a key factor in Ford’s position as the leading seller of pickups worldwide. That success is a testament to the hard work of our employees and dealers, and to the many customers that choose Ranger to support their lifestyles or businesses.

This year marked my fourth road trip as CEO of Ford, and these annual road trips are a highlight of the year for me and help me stay connected to our customers and our products and services. For this trip, I was joined by Ford Chief Operating Officer Kumar Galhotra and Vice President of Advanced Product Development Sam Basile, who together lead Product Development. 

We drove 300 miles across Southeast Queensland, from the beaches of Bribie Island into the rural heartland and on to suburban Brisbane. And everywhere we went, we experienced different aspects of the Ranger lifestyle. Our mission for the trip was to meet with Ford employees, customers and dealers to learn how they’re using our vehicles in real life and how we can better develop products like Ranger to last well into the future. This kind of hands-on insight is critical in shaping our future product plans and will help us make better decisions for our customers and the business.

In fact, right now in Australia we’re also rolling out the new Ranger Super Duty, which was designed and engineered in the country by our passionate Australian-based team. That vehicle was spurred by these sorts of gemba conversations we had with heavy-duty fleet operators who needed a mid-size truck with serious towing and payload capabilities, as well as the confidence to go off-road in Australia’s toughest terrain. Nothing in the Australian market could do this. But this truck can, and it’s the first time the ‘Super Duty’ badge has been used outside the F-Series in North America.

On Day 1, we met up with the Ford Rangerettes – a group of women representing a community of over 4,500 Ranger enthusiasts who travel together on group drives and off-roading adventures in Australia’s most remote areas. We met them in a caravan park, where they had set up their vehicles for camping to demonstrate the different ways they have customized their vehicles for their lifestyle. 

Kumar, Sam and I talked with them in depth about the modifications they’ve made to their Rangers, which was helpful to see and gave us some ideas for future products. They shared their ideas and requests for new features we could add to future vehicles, and we even talked about what other types of Ford vehicles they’d like to see us bring to Australia. These kinds of truly genuine and frank discussions are invaluable to us as leaders. These women know their vehicles. They know what works well and what can be improved and we left with lots of ideas to bring back to our teams. Their community is a great example of what Ranger is all about: capability, community, and love of adventure.

Later that morning, we drove to the unpaved roads of Queensland’s forest preserves to meet with the forest rangers who work as first responders, firefighters, and conservationists in some of Australia’s toughest terrain. Our Ranger Super Duty team actually tested the vehicle in this environment and I could see why. Ranger Chief Engineer Justin Capicchiano and I did a comparison drive with some competitor trucks, including the Toyota LC79, on the rough forest roads, to understand how it stacks up to the Ranger Super Duty. This hands-on experience with competitor vehicles is essential. We got to ask the rangers lots of questions about what they need in their trucks to get their jobs done and be ready for any situation they face.

Next stop was Somerset Dam where we talked with workers who operate the massive network of water facilities, serving more than 3 million people, with a fleet of 300 Rangers. They just took delivery of their first Ranger Super Duty. These essential economy workers are the ones who source, store, treat and deliver safe, reliable and cost-effective drinking water across the region. Their work includes everything from flood mitigation to recreation to water security, and they took the time to tell me about how the Ranger works in all these contexts in the field – a real-world proving ground.

We started Day 2 the way a lot of truck owners do, in the parking lot of a hardware store: the Bunnings in Plainland, just west of Brisbane. We wanted to hear from contractors and tradesmen about how they use their trucks in their businesses, including Ranger owners and people that drive our competitors’ vehicles. It was a great chance to see how workers utilize storage and upfit trucks to fit their needs. My favorite story of the day: contractor Josh Reisenleiter told us his employer provided a Ranger for him as a work truck — and he liked it so much he went out and bought one for himself as his personal vehicle.

Australia’s biggest Ford upfitting operation, Q Automotive Group, operates six Ford dealerships across Australia. In Parkland, we got to see their “Big Shed” — a facility that can hold 650 vehicles, all being upfitted to meet specific customer needs in everything from small businesses to large government fleets. We saw firsthand how the upfitting process is tailored to each customer’s needs — and how that gives us an advantage against our competitors in fleet capability.

Nobody understands the changes our industry faces more than our dealers. So, I was especially excited to hear from Caroline Gallagher at Torque Ford in Brisbane. As one of the world’s most competitive pickup markets, competition in Australia is intensifying from long-established rivals like Toyota and Chinese brands. It was helpful to get a better understanding of what dealers are hearing and what customers are expecting. We left energized with what we saw on the ground and the opportunities to grow our position in Australia.

As you can see, it was a great experience with great people — and overall, a great road trip.

We learned how our customers use the Ranger for both work and play, so we can build them an even better product. We got a good look at the competition, to understand what we’re up against, and what we need to do to win. And without wasting any time, we’re putting everything we learned into action.

Getting out of the office to “go and see” with our own eyes and talk to the people who rely on our vehicles every day is the best way to learn. We learned things on this journey that we couldn’t find out any other way. And maybe that’s what we’re always looking for, when we get that urge to be out on the open road.

Take a look at Jim Farley’s Instagram, LinkedIn, X, and Threads for more road trip updates.