Ford Australia wants to double its lineup, and China is the key

Key highlights

• Ford aims to increase its Australian market coverage from 30 per cent to 60 per cent within three years.
• The Transit City and Bronco Basecamp will be Ford Australia’s first China-sourced models.
• More SUVs could follow, though Ford has not confirmed which additional models are coming.

Ford Australia CEO Fadi Mawal didn’t mince words at the brand’s Ford Uncovered event in Melbourne this week. Speaking about how much of the new-car market Ford actually competes in, he called the current 30 per cent figure “not enough.”

It’s not hard to see why. Over the past few years, Ford has quietly walked away from a string of nameplates Australians used to cross-shop without a second thought, the Fiesta, Focus, Puma, Escape and Mondeo have all been discontinued locally. What’s left is a lineup leaning almost entirely on two vehicles. In the first half of 2026, the Ranger ute and Everest SUV together accounted for a staggering 88.5 per cent of everything Ford sold in Australia. That’s a great result for those two models, but it leaves the brand dangerously exposed everywhere else.

Read more: Has Ford accidentally revealed the next Bronco? 

The plan? Double market coverage within three years!

Mawal confirmed Ford wants to lift its market coverage from 30 to 60 per cent over the next three years, and by the end of the decade, he says 90 per cent of the brand’s global lineup will be either brand new or heavily refreshed.

To get there, Ford is turning to a source it hasn’t tapped before in Australia: China. Two models are already locked in, the Transit City, a smaller van aimed at tradies and last-mile delivery businesses, and the Bronco Basecamp, a compact off-roader that Ford Australia is understood to be helping fine-tune for local conditions before it’s exported globally.

Mawal was careful to stress that Australian engineers won’t be sidelined in this shift. “We will keep designing and engineering the right vehicles here, made for Australian and Kiwi customers,” he said, adding that there are “many more” vehicles in the pipeline that haven’t been announced yet.

Which segments is Ford chasing?

While Ford hasn’t confirmed specific new models beyond the Transit City and Bronco Basecamp, two gaps stand out as obvious priorities: affordable small SUVs and mid-size SUVs, both categories Ford has had little to no presence in since the Escape and Puma were dropped.

Ford’s Chinese portfolio, built through joint ventures with Jiangling Motors and Changan, has no shortage of candidates. The Territory (also badged Equator Sport overseas) is roughly RAV4-sized and already sold in right-hand drive in South Africa, which makes it a logical fit for Australia if Ford chooses to bring it here. Slightly larger is the Equator, which is offered with a plug-in hybrid setup and three rows of seating.

At the bigger end sits the Edge L, a five-metre-long, seven-seat SUV about the size of a Hyundai Palisade, available with a 2.0-litre turbo petrol engine in either standard or hybrid form. None of these have been confirmed for Australia, but they show the kind of vehicles Ford could draw on to plug its lineup gaps quickly.

Why does this matter for Australian buyers?

For shoppers who’ve felt like Ford dealerships only had two things to offer lately, this is a sign that a more genuine choice could be on the way, hopefully without a big jump in price, given Mawal’s comments about staying “affordable” while expanding.

It also reflects a broader shift happening across the industry, where Chinese manufacturing and joint-venture platforms are increasingly being used by legacy brands to bring new models to market faster and more cheaply than developing them from scratch.

That said, Ford’s growing reliance on Chinese partners hasn’t gone unnoticed back in the US. Ford CEO Jim Farley reportedly met with officials in Nanchang this month to deepen the company’s collaboration with Jiangling Motors, a move that’s drawn criticism from US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy over Ford’s ties to Chinese manufacturing.

What’s confirmed and what’s still speculation?

To be clear: only the Transit City and Bronco Basecamp are locked in for Australia so far. The Territory, Equator and Edge L are all sold in China but haven’t been officially confirmed for local release, they’re simply the most obvious candidates given Ford’s stated plans and the gaps in its current lineup. Cars24 Australia keep you updated as Ford reveals more about which models are actually headed for Australian showrooms.