MELBOURNE, Australia, May 27, 2026 - In 1932, an Australian farmer's wife wrote a letter to Ford with a simple request: she needed a vehicle that could carry the family to church on Sunday, then take pigs to market on Monday. That letter led to the creation of the 1934 Ford coupe-utility - the world's first ute.

But it gave us something more enduring than a now ubiquitous body style, it led to a key insight: the best way to build a great vehicle for the world is to start by building the best possible vehicle for Australia.

I've been engineering Fords for Australian conditions for nearly 35 years. In that time, I've seen technologies change, markets evolve, and competitors come and go. But that belief has never wavered and it's why the Ranger, developed right here by an Australian team, has been the country’s number one selling vehicle for the last three years¹ and is sold in more than 180 markets around the world, and Everest, Australia’s favourite large SUV in 2024 and 2025², is sold across Asia Pacific, Africa, South America, and the Middle East.

The people behind the product

Australia is one of Ford’s global product development centres – alongside the U.S., Europe and China. We employ 1,500 people in this country. That includes a thousand-strong product development workforce of highly skilled designers, engineers, tradespeople and technicians. These aren't people managing a local variant of someone else's vehicle.

They’re the people who dream it up after deep customer listening, decide how it will look in Aussie driveways, prioritise safety for your families, and test it to ensure it will last the distance. They’re the ones who brought Ranger and Everest to life and have developed Ranger Hybrid and Ranger Super Duty.

My own journey with these teams began in 1992. I started at the Broadmeadows Assembly Plant as a Manufacturing Engineer and Production Supervisor through the Ford Australia Graduate Program. Those early years were spent on the floor, overseeing the birth of the Falcon family of vehicles.

That boots-on-the-ground experience in manufacturing stayed with me when I transitioned into Product Development 28 years ago. Whether I was working on the iconic Falcon and Territory or spending time at our global headquarters in the U.S., my focus has always been the same: product. I love what I do because I’m inspired by the talented Australian and global teams I work with every day. We are immensely proud to be the team that developed the Ranger and Everest from a clean sheet of paper.

Engineering for the way Australians actually work

Australia demands more from its vehicles than almost anywhere else on earth. The distances are longer, the roads are rougher, and the conditions are less forgiving. Our customers - the tradies, farmers, mine workers, and emergency services personnel who depend on their vehicle every day - have no margin for compromise. Neither do we.

What does it mean to engineer for Australia rather than simply adapt for it? It means solving problems that others don't see. The Ranger Super Duty is the ultimate expression of this. Its genesis was a conversation six years ago; we sat down with our largest fleet customers and asked what they needed. They were clear: they needed a vehicle that could carry a heavy load and tow 4.5 tonnes straight from the factory. Because of our unique local expertise, Ford Australia was the only team that could build the answer.

Where durability and capability are earned

Engineering a global leader requires more than just a clean-slate design; it requires relentless validation. For over 60 years, the You Yangs Proving Ground (YYPG) in Victoria has been the cornerstone of this process.

To bring the current Ranger and Everest to life, we engineered reliability through nearly two-million kilometres of real-world durability testing. We leverage world-class technology - from robotic drivers to three-axis simulators - but the true test happens in the wild. We push prototypes through Middle Eastern deserts, high-altitude U.S. mountain ranges, and the bone-jarring corrugations of the Australian Outback. This uncompromising standard ensures that every vehicle we build, regardless of its final destination, is genuinely ready to go.

Homegrown ingenuity and resilience

Our focus is now on the next generation of multi-energy solutions, led by the Ranger Hybrid. By integrating a 2.3-litre turbo-petrol engine with an electric motor, our engineers have delivered low-emissions technology without compromising the 3,500kg towing capacity our customers rely on.

This investment in local innovation is complemented by our commitment to the communities we serve. We have launched a collaboration with six of Australia’s leading universities to develop autonomous vehicle systems specifically for harsh, unpredictable environments - such as bushfire-affected regions and flood zones - where human travel is most dangerous. Our $1.5 million partnership with the Australian Red Cross for disaster relief reflects the same understanding that drives our R&D: in Australia, resilience is a requirement, not an option.

Over the past decade, Ford has invested $5 billion in local R&D. That investment isn't just about better vehicles; it’s about maintaining the sovereign capability - the talent, the facilities and the knowledge - to keep solving Australian problems for Australian customers.

Experience the difference

The through-line of my career at Ford has been a commitment to building things our customers tell us they want and building them properly. And we don’t stop after launch, we keep evolving our vehicles to make them better, like the Model Year 2026.5 Ranger and Everests out this month.

For the millions of customers worldwide who already drive a Ranger or Everest, it makes me incredibly proud that the standard of excellence they trust was set right here in Australia.