ARB and Ranger partnership rock solid

FORD Australia says its ongoing partnership with off-road accessories manufacturer ARB is rock solid, with Ranger and Everest customers taking full advantage of the array of parts on offer when personalising their new four-wheel drive.

Speaking with GoAuto at the launch of the new Ranger Tremor in Melbourne this week, Ford Australia marketing director Ambrose Henderson said the strategy was delivering solid sales performance, enabling customers access to a reputable catalogue of popular accessories directly from the showroom floor.

“At the launch of the Next-Gen Ranger we had a very clear strategy related clearly, and specifically, to ARB,” he said.

“We wanted to launch with the largest range of accessories in the segment, and we did that.

“ARB was an obvious choice for that, they are the largest and most well-recognised names in that space.”

Mr Henderson said the program had served not only to allow customers access to the knowledge of Ford dealership staff, but also that of local ARB stockists with exceptional know-how in customer-specific personalisation.

“In terms of success of the ARB program, it has absolutely been very successful for ARB as for us,” added Mr Henderson.

“While there is still a mix of those people that buy through a dealer or do it themselves, I wouldn’t say it is that binary.

“We have a lot of dealers that have very close relationships with their local ARB store, and they work together with the customer to build a great package – we tend to find that’s where it (the partnership) works best.

“Combining the knowledge of our Ford and ARB dealers in setting up the car works really well for the customer. They drive away with accessories that really work well for them, and as a result we’re seeing that accessory sales are up significantly.”

While Mr Henderson was reluctant to provide hard and fast numbers on the take-up of ARB accessories on Next-Gen Ranger and Everest models, anecdotal evidence suggests more than half of the 5.5 million SUV and 4WD vehicles on Australian roads feature at least some level of accessorisation.

World-renowned companies like ARB offer a tested and proven catalogue of off-road and trade-related accessories for a wide range of new and used four-wheel drives, all engineered to withstand Australian conditions and to meet our strict regulatory guidelines.

For Ford’s Ranger, there are some 160 components available through the ARB catalogue offering buyers a range of accessories for camping, touring, and work-related use.

These include front, side, rear and underbody protection components, rated recovery points, canopies and tonneau covers, suspension upgrades, an auxiliary battery kit, a long-range fuel tank and even a snorkel and differential locks.