Ford F-150 Raptor

[Inkriql]

Between the '60s and' 90s, the best-selling pick-up in Argentina was the Ford F Series. It was not a local miracle. It is the same phenomenon that still exists in the United States: the F Series is the best-selling vehicle (of any type) in the USA and that also places it as the best-selling pick-up in the world. Yes, even above all the global sales of the Toyota Hilux.

But, unlike the United States, in Argentina "things happened." In 1997, Ford transferred F Series production from Pacheco to Brazil. By decision of Detroit, the Buenos Aires plant focused on the production of the Ranger, which had started a year earlier.

And there began the headaches. The first Rangers had what is called "teething problems." To eliminate euphemisms: quality defects. That undermined the great heritage that Series F had conquered: the reputation of indestructible reliability. If the F-100 kept walking even after launching it from a Hercules!

Those Ranger flaws eroded the trust of Ford's most loyal audience. And some began to test the competition's proposals. This is how the Brazilian Chevrolet S10 reached sales to the Argentine Ranger. And then it was the turn of the Toyota Hilux: once he grabbed the tip of the segment, he didn't release it anymore. He has already won the best-selling vehicle title (of any kind) in Argentina three times. Same as the F Series in the USA.

Along the way, Ford stopped producing the F-100/250 in Brazil. That happened in 2011 and the brand seemed to completely forget the full-size segment. Or at least that was the impression they transmitted from Pacheco.

Only now it was known, but as soon as the F Series in Brazil stopped producing, a Ford Argentina team set to work to import the Detroit F Series. Although they encountered an important obstacle: the Argentine approval regulations only accepted vehicles that met the specifications of the European market.

It is a simple formalism that, in practice, affects a few pieces: colors of the position lights, design of the lower part of the instrument panel and the measurement methods in some laboratory tests.

How was that possible? Simple, behind the backs of American automakers, European terminals based in Argentina had managed to exclude Yankee approvals from processes validated by the National Institute of Industrial Technology (INTI). Thus, Ford and GM launched a counter-lobby, although they recently obtained the necessary support within the internal manufacturers association (Adefa) when Fiat became FCA (and found the same obstacle to standardize the products of Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge and Ram).

The next stage was to convince the government authorities about the need to change the approval system. That was only achieved in December 2017 (see Official Gazette). And there the other race was launched: to homologate, request production quotas and bring to the country vehicles that until that date were prohibited from being commercialized in Argentina.

FCA has already announced that it will bring the full range of Ram pick-ups produced in the United States and with Yankee approval. Until now, I had only been able to sell Mexican women, who did not have these approval problems. Chevrolet exhibited the Silverado and admitted that it has plans to sell it within a year. Ford reacted faster and finally offered the F Series in Argentina.

The F-150 Lariat and F-150 Raptor were put in presale last October and officially launched in January. They are huge, come very equipped, have exclusive prices and chock engines with several cylinders, many horses and huge torque. But, above all things, they return to occupy a place in the market that they should never have abandoned.

Ford Argentina made a series of wrong decisions almost 30 years ago. That mistake served the leadership of Toyota in the world of pick-ups. The return of the F Series will not break sales records, but at least it accommodates the planets again. The best-selling flat in the world returned to the place she should never have left: Argentina, the country of pick-ups.

The full review of the Ford F-150 Raptor will be published next week.