2023 Ford Ranger Raptor production photos emerge ahead of showroom arrivals

Photos of the new-generation Ford Ranger Raptor on the production line have been released as the first Australian showroom arrivals slide from August to September amid shipping bottlenecks.

The 2023 Ford Ranger Raptor is weeks away from local showrooms, with first allocations pushed from August to September amid shipping slowdowns.

Now the company has provided a rare insight into the production line process to assure customers their vehicles really are on the way.

Ford Australia has today supplied photos of a handful of 2023 Ford Ranger Raptors on the Thailand production line, and released a behind-the-scenes video for the Thai market where the vehicle is made.

The images were taken mid July 2022 and the vehicles are believed to among the first shipment of new-generation Ford Ranger Raptors headed to customers in Australia.

Although Ford does not customarily permit photos inside its assembly facilities – or provide them to customers – an exception was made for three vehicles bought by local media, including yours truly.

The photos were taken by Ford and sent to three Australian media outlets whose journalists had ordered a vehicle through a dealership earlier this year.

Ford Australia says it has never had such a response to a new model before, so it took the extra-ordinary step of providing photos of the three cars – with permission from the buyers – during the assembly phase.

Ford shared the images so other Ranger Raptor customers in the queue can see some of the production process – and show evidence the performance pick-ups really are coming.

Social media has been alight with frustrated buyers expressing their anger about ongoing delays and uncertain delivery times.

Customers who ordered vehicles earlier this year or late last year – long before the new Ford Ranger Raptor was unveiled – are expected to take delivery by the end of this month.

However, customers who order today face a 10-month wait, according to the Ford Australia website. Some dealers are quoting waiting times of 18 months.

Last week, Ford Australia confirmed it is holding 5000 orders for the Raptor – which represents in excess of 10 per cent of Ranger demand so far, more than double the proportion for the previous model.

Ford says production interruptions and shipping bottlenecks have pushed back arrivals of the new Ford Ranger, Raptor, and Everest four-wheel-drive.

While the delays have frustrated buyers, the wait times are modest compared to most other brands such as Toyota, Hyundai and Kia which have delays stretching from three months to two years on certain in-demand models.

The vehicle in these photos is by no means the first showroom-ready example of a 2023 Ford Ranger Raptor in Australia. 

A batch of a dozen Code Orange and Conquer Grey Ford Ranger Raptor pick-ups arrived in Australia last month ahead of media and marketing duties this month. Hand-built prototypes (pictured below) and early assembly line-built examples have been here for more than a year.

The initial dozen Code Orange and Conquer Grey Ford Ranger Raptor pick-ups have been spotted north of Melbourne on car-carriers – as well as clocking up kilometres in Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia ahead of media test drives later this month.

Once the vehicles complete their media, marketing, and dealer-training duties, they will be sold via the Ford showroom network as used “demonstrator” vehicles about a year from now.

Meantime, for first drive impressions of a prototype version of the 2023 Ford Ranger Raptor, click here for our written review and online video which call out the good points – and the bad – of the new performance pick-up.

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