| 2020-04-22 |    |
One Year Later: Inside the Development of the Ranger Diesel
For more than 20 years, Polaris has been building off-road side-by-side vehicles that perform better, work harder, and ride smoother.
One year ago in April 2019, Polaris launched its latest addition to the Ranger line-up with the brand-new Ranger Diesel, representing years of research and development to create the ultimate agricultural vehicle, inspired by its users.
One year on, Polaris Britain look back at what went into the development of the all-new Ranger Diesel…
“The Diesel design and build process primarily started with customer feedback” – said Product Manager of Polaris Off-Road Vehicles EMEA, Frederic Mardon. “We had been in the Diesel market for a while and had a good amount of customer insight data – when we dug into the details, it was clear that our customer use patterns were very different from country to country. In the UK, the hours of use are much higher, and the environment tends to be tougher than that of our North American powersports customers. We saw the opportunity to develop our existing Ranger Diesel into a machine specifically adapted to these conditions.”
The Ranger Diesel features a new diesel engine to deliver extreme durability and enhanced power, plus an increased engine service internal to over 200 hours; delivering a lower cost of ownership – just one of the many upgrades to the vehicle that made it more suited for international markets.
“We spent a lot of time in the field with farmers and small-holding owners prior to conceptualising the Ranger Diesel. The objectives were driven from the voice of the customer; improved reliability and durability, performance and refinement. Customer studies began in late 2016 and the project was approved in 2017.”
With robustness and refinement being key to customer satisfaction, the Ranger Diesel features an all-new one-piece chassis design, offering a new large front bumper and a full-body skid plate for 50% more protection to the underside of the vehicle. Internally, there’s more legroom, 2.5cm of extra seat cushioning, less engine noise in-cab and 17% more internal storage. With customer feedback at the heart of its design, testing the new vehicle in real-life scenarios played an important role in preparing the Ranger Diesel for production.
Amy Cahill, Marketing Specialist at Polaris Britain, said: “Every aspect of the Ranger Diesel was developed with the customer in mind. In July 2018, we placed a number of pre-production Ranger Diesels with specific UK customers to aid with the development process. The aim was to make sure the Diesel performed in real-life situations, and the customers certainly put the machine through its paces – with fantastic results. All our customers were overly happy with the product and the decision to put the Diesel into production followed in February 2019. Since then, it’s thrived in the UK market and continues to serve our hard-working customers.”
One year on and the Ranger Diesel has become the benchmark for utility side-by-side vehicles in the industry, taking the foundations of the previous model and showcasing what a diesel model is truly capable of. With refined performance, enhanced ergonomics and class-leading capabilities, the Ranger Diesel is made to perform to the highest standards for years to come.
The Ranger Diesel is available across the UK, alongside the rest of the Polaris Ranger lineup; the Ranger EV, the mid-size Ranger 570 and the full-size Ranger XP 1000 EPS (also available in a CREW model).
