Ford Endura to be axed

The Ford Endura will soon be discontinued in Australia, where it was released less than two years ago in December 2018.

Revealed to carsales by a source close to Ford Australia and subsequently confirmed by its dealers, the move will leave the Blue Oval brand with only three SUVs in its line-up: the new Puma and Escape and the large Everest off-roader.

It also means Ford will continue without a direct rival for the popular Toyota Kluger or a direct replacement for its own homegrown Territory, which disappeared along with local Ford manufacturing in October 2016.

Just a week ago, Ford told carsales the Endura would remain available in Australia, saying “Endura remains part of our Australian line-up”.

At the same time, however, the company would not commit to importing the upgraded MY21 version announced in the US last week.

Nor would it confirm rumours that the first seven-seat version of the newly-launched Escape mid-size SUV will become available here, saying “we have no plans to introduce any Escape variants other than those already announced”.

These include the first plug-in hybrid (PHEV) version, which has been delayed by a year due to a stop-sale order and recall in Europe following battery charging module overheating issues.

Today, a number of Ford dealers confirmed industry rumours the Endura will be discontinued due to slow sales, saying stock levels were low and fresh supplies will not be forthcoming.

Ford Endura sales are 40 per cent down so far this year, with just over 1000 sales accounting for 1.4 per cent of the mainstream large SUV segment dominated by the Toyota Prado, which has found 12,932 homes to the end of October this year.

The next best seller in the segment is the same brand’s Kluger (7500 sales year-to-date), for which Ford has been without a direct rival since the Territory.

Available only in five-seat diesel form, Australia’s Ford Endura is based on Europe’s Ford Edge and produced in Canada.

A seven-seat petrol Edge/Endura is produced only in China for domestic consumption. Initial hopes of it being built in right-hand drive and imported to Australia never came to fruition.

The decline in Endura sales follows a temporary stop-sale order for it and other models powered by the same 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel last year.

The downturn also comes despite retail discounts including $1000 price cuts for the front-drive Titanium flagship and a $43,990 drive-away price and free scheduled servicing for 2019-plated examples of the base Trend variant.

Ford sources also told carsales that a seven-seat Escape is unlikely for the Australian market, where Ford’s SUV line-up is shrinking at a time when direct rivals including Toyota, Mazda, Hyundai, Kia and Volkswagen are expanding the number of SUV models in their ranges, in many cases by adding new entry-level models.

At the same time, with the new Puma replacing the unloved EcoSport, the admission price to Ford’s SUV line-up now rises from $22,790 to $29,990.

News of the Endura’s demise, which will not be publicly announced, comes as Ford Australia continues to eliminate once-staple passenger models from its line-up.

These include the Mondeo mid-sizer, all but the ST hot hatch version of the Fiesta light hatch and, soon, all but the Active, ST and ST-Line hatch versions of the Focus small car.

Next year, the only other car Ford Australia will sell is the Mustang sports car.

Ford is following the same strategy in North America, where the F-Series and Explorer remain among its most popular models, but in the US market it is also adding SUVs like the Bronco and Mustang Mach E.

None of these models are on the horizon for Australia, where the Ranger ute accounts for almost 70 per cent of Ford sales, followed by the Everest, Mustang and Transit van.