Ram Trucks Australia triples production ahead of Ford and Toyota arrivals

04/10/2022 05:32

The record sales growth of US pick-ups in Australia is about to gather pace – and potentially deliver customers the competition needed to bring some downward price pressure.

Market leader Ram Trucks Australia is preparing to triple its local production output of the Ram 1500 range – including the supercharged V8 Ram TRX (pictured above) – after taking over the former factory space used by General Motors for the Chevrolet Silverado.

Until last month, both the Chevrolet Silverado 1500 and Ram 1500 were remanufactured from left- to right-hand-drive under the same roof by the Walkinshaw Automotive Group, the former parent company of Holden Special Vehicles.

However, the Chevrolet Silverado assembly line has moved to another, smaller site while Ram Trucks Australia has taken over the whole facility, increasing its factory floorspace from 6000 square metres to 16,000 square metres.

The extra space will deliver a significant increase in production capacity, more than tripling Ram’s original output.

Ram Trucks Australia remanufactured more than 800 vehicles last month – a new record – and continues to outsell its nearest rival, the Chevrolet Silverado, by more than two-to-one.

Official sales data shows Ram Trucks Australia has reported more than 3500 vehicles as sold so far this year – up 20 per cent compared to the same period last year, in a market that has dipped by 2.1 per cent.

Sales of the Chevrolet Silverado are less than half the Ram tally. Chevrolet’s running total of more than 1400 Silverado pick-ups reported as sold in Australia so far this year represents an increase of 10 per cent.

Waiting times for most types of US pick-ups in Australia are blown out by four to six months on average, as customers upgrade from Toyota HiLux utes, Toyota LandCruisers, and Nissan Patrols for towing duties.

However, Ram Trucks Australia is working overtime to deliver vehicles sooner.

Now that official distributor Ram Trucks Australia has addressed production capacity – with more than 500 locally-engineered parts going into each factory-backed remanufactured vehicle – the company expects waiting times will come down.

Drive understands Ram Trucks Australia is trying claim as much territory as possible before the Ford F-150 arrives in Ford showrooms from mid-2023 and before the Toyota Tundra Hybrid turns up some time in 2024 – if the project gets the green light from Japan.

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