Extra heavy duty Ford for Brazil

Ford has introduced an extra heavy duty version of the new Cargo for the Brazilian market. The truck has a capacity of 54 ton.

With this truck, Ford will begin to compete in the extra heavy-duty segment, which is new for the brand, and will complement its commercial vehicle lineup – already one of Brazil’s most complete.  The extra heavy-duty category is the quickest growing class in the Brazilian market.

The truck was created and developed by Ford’s design and engineering teams in Brazil and Turkey. The goal was to offer a truck built on a global platform which will have the best configuration and cost-benefit ratio, as well as a comfortable cabin, top performance and fuel efficiency, robustness and advanced technology. “The joint announcement in these two countries shows Ford’s current and future commitment in the commercial vehicles sector. This will be one of this year’s top vehicle launches and represents significant progress in Ford’s globalization strategy for commercial vehicles,” said Steven Armstrong, Ford Brazil president.

World-class vehicle
Ford Trucks has a strong tradition for offering robust, reliable and cost efficient vehicles in the Brazilian market. The new extra heavy-duty Ford Cargo was designed in the same format – to meet the needs of this segment which has grown extensively in the past few years. The commercial vehicles operations are strategic for Ford South America. This initiative is in line with Ford’s Go Further plan, which aims to offer the most efficient solutions in the market.

The Ford Cargo lineup offers now 12 models in the following segments: light trucks (6 to 10 tons), medium-duty 4×2 (11 to 20 tons), 6×2 (23 to 27 t), heavy-duty 6×4 (27 to 31 tons) and tractors up to 46 tons. With the extra heavy-duty model’s launch, Ford is entering a segment that had the most growth in the market. In 2012, this segment was responsible for 24.6% of sales (33,700 units).  In 2009, this segment held a 20.9% share (22,500 units), growing to 25.3% in 2010 (39,500 units) and maintained a 23% share (39,600 units).

The class is mainly made up of tractors, used with trailers, while the rigid chassis models represent only 5% of sales. The segment’s growth was driven by changes in logistics, principally in transporting agricultural products, where trailers are used at distribution centers and then smaller vehicles transport the goods to city centers.

The truck will be produced in Ford’s truck plant in São Bernardo do Campo. It operates on one shift and produces 166 trucks per day.