With farm show off, Ford’s all at sea for the new ute’s unveiling.

MORE than 3000 orders – roughly the equivalent of three months’ supply – have been placed for the new Ford Ranger, according to the national distributor.

This, and confirmation some variants will be on sale from June, comes from Ford New Zealand as it reveals the model’s first public display event will be a regional boat show in Auckland next week.

The distributor says it has secured single examples of the XLT, Sport and Wildtrak for the Hutchwilco Boat Show, on May 12.

It has expressed confidence some show attendees will be coming simply to see the new ute, which builds upon the basis of the best-selling outgoing model, but with new styling technology and two new V6 powertrains.

Ford had originally planned to uncover new-gen Ranger at a much larger public event, National Agricultural Fieldays in Waikato.

Held annually in June, the largest agricultural trade show in the Southern Hemisphere normally attracts over 100,000 people. However, due to the Omicron outbreak and uncertainty around Covid-19 restrictions the country’s biggest rural showpiece was postponed to later this year.

Ford NZ managing director Simon Rutherford says the boat show is an ideal event for a public debut given the majority of our customers choose the Ranger due to its towing capabilities.

The line feature a new ‘tow/haul’ mode that optimises the gear shift timing to maintain power in ascents and engine braking on downhill sectors. It also has an integrated electric trailer brake controller, trailer connection checklist and trailer light check.