Ford F-150 production up and running in Melbourne

The global-first factory-backed conversion of the Ford F-150 full-size pick-up to right-hand drive has started in a new Melbourne facility ahead of first customer deliveries in November.

The production line, located in the northern suburb of Mickleham and run by RMA Automotive Australia – the local subsidiary of Ford’s Thai-headquartered partner and prime investor in the project, RMA – has the ability to remanufacture (as Ford likes to call it) 20 examples of the F-150 per day from left- to right-hand drive on a single shift, which equates to about 5000 examples per year.

With no export markets on offer (so far), this looks to be the sales target for Ford Australia, although the Blue Oval isn’t making official estimates. Production could be ramped up if necessary with a second shift.

There are four F-150 dual-cab 4x4 utes in the official line-up – the XLT and Lariat grades in both short- and long-wheelbase, all powered by the same twin-turbo 3.5-litre petrol V6.

Ford is forecasting a sales split of 60 per cent short-wheelbase and 40 per cent long-wheelbase, and 65 per cent Lariat versus 35 per cent for the more expensive XLT.

Both RMAAA and Ford Australia admit other F-150 derivatives such as the Lightning electric vehicle and other Ford models such as the Ranger-based Bronco are under consideration to be converted locally to right-hand drive at Mickleham, but no decisions to proceed have yet been made.

“We [Ford] haven’t done this anywhere else, so we want to get this right,” said Ford Australia President, Andrew Birkic.

“That is our total focus. Let’s land the plane on this [F-150] and then we’ll have conversations with our seniors in the US and Bangkok about what’s the art of the possible.”

RMAAA General Manager Trevor Negus revealed that working with other manufacturers was possible in the future, but that an exclusivity period with Ford currently applied. Neither Negus nor Birkic would specify how long that agreement was in place for.

Nor would they say how much the project or the facility has cost to get up and running: “I have a very good idea but I’m not gonna share it,” said Negus.

The F-150 – North America’s top-selling new vehicle for over four decades – is the third full-size US pick-up to go on sale in Australia thanks to a factory-backed local RHD program. It is actually an official return for the F-Series, which Ford last sold in Australia as the heavy-duty F-250 and F-350 in the 2000s following imports from Brazil.

Both the dominant RAM 1500 and Chevrolet Silverado are converted by the Walkinshaw Group, which has also won the right to convert the Toyota Tundra to right-hand drive. It is expected on sale in 2025.

“RAM and Walkinshaw have done a super job opening up the segment,” said Birkic. “We think we have a pretty good truck so it is about to get pretty interesting in the market.”

Ford Australia started pitching the F-150 program to its parent under the Project King codename about three years ago. While there was US support, there was also no prospect of gaining ex-factory RHD F-150 production, hence the decision to put out a competitive tender for a local conversion partner.

“The [global] company is very focussed on ensuring the right focus, which is let them worry about left-hand drive and let us focus on the [remanufacturing] process,” said Birkic.

“The model we came up with is a high level of Ford intervention over the engineering and oversight, but certainly engaging a partner who had the capability and the backing and the know-how to do it on a grand scale.”

RMAAA won the pitch ahead of both Walkinshaw and Premcar, which works with Nissan Australia on its Warrior program.

The leased 21,000-square-metre Mickleham site is a converted warehouse about the size of the MCG. It sits next to a new Ford Australia parts warehouse.

RMAAA has 250 employees on site, with 200 of them working on the assembly line, which has 65 individual stations.

It takes around 22 hours over three working days for each F-150 to be converted.

F-150s are shipped complete from a Ford assembly plant in Dearborn in Michigan to Mickleham, where they are torn down and rebuilt with the steering wheel on the right-hand side.

The process requires temporarily separating the body and ladder-frame chassis, and includes around 500 new parts and the recalibration of key systems including 18 of the 30 modules within an all-new wiring harness.

Engineering changes made to the right-hand-drive F-150 were developed by RMAAA with appointed contractor Segula Technologies Australia, in co-operation with Ford engineers in Australia and the USA.

2023 Ford F-150 engineering changes:

2023 Ford F-150 interior features replaced or adapted: