The Ford Falcon’s new hi-tech LPG system won’t be fitted to the Territory even though it is now ideally suited to powering the two-tonne family SUV.
With the efficiency gains of Ford’s new liquid injection LPG system, the Territory could have the cheapest running costs of any mid-sized SUV in the country. The extra power would also deliver no-compromise performance.
But the LPG tank would take up the space used by the third-row seats, and Ford isn’t prepared to build a five-seat-only LPG version of the Territory.
“The team has looked at it [an LPG Territory] because we’ve had requests for that,” said Beth Donovan, Ford Australia vice president, marketing, sales and service.
“But the [LPG] tank doesn’t fit. It would take up a lot of what the lower [rear] floor is. The reason [customers] buy an SUV is because they want the space.”
Donovan said Territory customers now had diesel as an option instead. “That’s why we’ve elected to go with diesel in Territory,” she said. “We’d love to do it [an LPG Territory] but we’re very happy with what we have.”
Preliminary figures show that diesel versions already account for more than half of all new Territory sales, a Ford spokesman said. In June, the new model's first full month on sale, the TDCi variants sold 913 units, the petrol variants accounted for 721.
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