2023 Ford Ranger Raptor: 5000 orders placed, no diesel model planned

Five thousand orders for the new second-generation 2023 Ford Ranger Raptor have now been made, with the huge demand pushing wait times out to at least 10 months.

That means the $90,000-plus Raptor is effectively sold out until mid-2023 as you wouldn’t receive your ute until July next year if you placed an order today.

The first examples of the new ‘super ute’, which now has almost twice as much grunt as the original Raptor thanks to a 3.0-litre turbocharged V6 petrol engine, will begin to arrive Down Under later this month.

Ford has confirmed customer deliveries of the new Ranger Raptor will begin week commencing September 19.

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Deliveries of the new-generation Ford Everest will begin at the same time, although the large SUV is also facing long wait times for V6-powered models. The wait on an Everest V6 Sport and top-spec Platinum currently sits at nine months.

Ford says it’s working hard to secure supply of both Ranger Raptor and Everest, but added current supply chain difficulties are tricky to navigate.

“It certainly requires a lot of vigilance and it’s dynamic so it’s very hard to make definitive statements about supply when there’s not only chip constraints, but vessel delays and other components,” said Ford Australia boss Andrew Birkic. “We have a really strong order bank and now our job is to get the vehicles here to meet the demand.”

The huge demand for the new Ranger Raptor means it’s already well on its way to eclipse sales of the first-generation model. The original Ranger Raptor was a huge success for Ford in Australia with more than 10,000 units sold.

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A key factor in the new Raptor’s popularity is its switch to a more powerful 3.0-litre petrol engine. The first Raptor was powered by a 2.0-litre bi-turbo diesel and that same diesel will still be offered in the new ute in Europe and some Asian markets.

Yet despite rising fuel prices and the opportunity to secure even more sales by offering customers two powertrain options, Ford Australia says it has no plans to sell a diesel version of the new Raptor Down Under.

“The diesel is for other markets,” said Ford Performance program manager Justin Capicchiano. “Right now it’s 3.0-litre only here and that’s the only powertrain we’re offering in Australia.”

When asked if Ford was worried some customers would find the new petrol engine too expensive to run, Capicchiano pointed to the 5000 orders as proof that the new ute’s additional performance is worth the extra thirst.

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Officially the new Raptor drinks 11.5L/100km on the combined cycle. That’s a sharp spike over the diesel Raptor’s 8.1L usage figure.

“Not really,” said Capicchiano. “The stuff we’ve built into that engine [the 3.0-litre] if you drive it sedately it’s no worse than what an XR6 Turbo was back in the day.

“And the people that buy these things understand it’s now a performance truck and it’s going to come with an additional fuel use the previous one didn’t. But it’s a compromise they’re willing to make because they’re getting a lot more.

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“And for the Asian and European markets that want that cost of ownership, we’ll offer the bi-turbo. It’ll be a slightly different proposition [to the petrol], but it will scratch that itch for them as well. It will still deliver the Raptor DNA and still deliver the Ford Performance mind set we want it to have.

“We didn’t just want to do the same truck as the previous one. Quite frankly [the diesel] is the same powertrain and gearbox and we didn’t want to just stick it in a different body and call it a day. We’ve spent genuine time retuning everything. The dampers, the steering, it’s all be completely retuned. We’ve done a hell of a lot of work.”