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NEWS
Ford Everest's lofty goals
All-new SUV Everest is not a redesigned ute insists FordThe new Australian-developed and designed Everest SUV is not a ute-based SUV, insists Ford.
Unlike seven-seat SUVs such as the Isuzu MU-X, Mitsubishi Challenger and Holden Colorado 7, which use the same underpinnings as their ute cousins, Ford wants to distance the Everest from its less sophisticated Ford Ranger ute.
Likely to be a more expensive proposition than the above-mentioned ute-based models which retail between $40,000 to $50,000, the Everest could be priced in $50,000 to $70,000 bracket, seeing it lock horns with family-friendly mud-slingers like the Toyota Prado and Nissan Pathfinder.
Believed to be based on a similar platform to the Ford Ranger ute, also developed in Oz (and featuring a similarly rugged ladder chassis frame), the Everest is a standalone vehicle, according to one senior Ford engineer.
David French, the Program Director for Everest and commercial vehicles in Asia Pacific, responded that the Everest is "not a Ranger" when asked if they shared the same underpinnings.
"It is its own car and doesn't owe too much to Ranger," he said, noting that it was more than just a ute with a "tin box on top".
"The wheelbase is shorter than the Ranger (3220mm), and the Everest is exactly what the customers asked us to build."
The Everest adopts the same front end suspension configuration as the Ranger, albeit most likely re-tuned for improved ride comfort. But the rear of the new SUV eschews the load-bearing leaf springs of the ute, instead getting a coil-sprung live rear axle with a Watts linkage designed to improve ride and handling. The Everest also benefits from disc brakes at all four corners. The ute gets rear drum brakes.
Ford is pitching the Everest as a rival to the likes of the Toyota Prado, a car that is priced as high as $90,000 in Australia. The new Ford will be offered with a range of class-leading equipment such as radar-based cruise control, a system that can steer the car back into its lane, and another system to automatically brake if it detects a collision. Additionally, the Everest will be available with front and rear cameras, plus a new voice-controlled sat nav and infotainment system.
It even gets noise-cancelling headphone technology to keep the cabin blissfully quiet.
Ford is quite clearly targetting the big guns in the segment and the Everest will have the offroad prowess to match heavy-hitters like Prado.
"Toyota Prado, Mitsubishi Pajero and Nissan Pathfinder were the benchmarks," said French. "They are also go-anywhere SUVs. We think we can well and truly hold our own [against the competition]."
He said the Everest's new Terrain Response System 4WD system is similar (but not identical) to the setup used on the Ford Explorer, which is not currently sold in Australia.
The Australian engineering boss said despite the SUV's outstanding offroad capability, including a "class-leading" 225mm of ground clearance, it will still deliver impressive ride comfort and handling.
Will it match the Ford Territory, a vehicle that has set the dynamic benchmark for seven seat SUVS in the last decade?
"It isn't a Territory, but in terms of the ride comfort for a go-anywhere SUV we think it's got a great ride.
"I'd say it's a different character. It doesn't wallow like some of its competitors (through corners) and it'll drive like other Ford cars, precise and rewarding," said French, who reckons some Territory customers will switch over to the new model.
Although Ford was giving nothing away at the car's Beijing world premiere in terms of feature levels, former Ford Australia PR chief and now Asia Pacific PR boss Sinead Phipps said that we can expect to see all the bells and whistles in Aussie Everest models.
"It's safe to say that out of all markets [where the Everest will be sold] that Australia and New Zealand will get the most sophisticated models. Without going into details, customers in Australia and New Zealand expect high levels of features."
But does that mean entry-level models will be stripped-back to their bare bones? Richard Tilly, Director SUVs and Commercial Vehicles , Asia Pacific, said even the basic Everest models will be keenly packaged: "There'll be a lot of kit even on the entry level models".
The new Everest will be sold in countries such as China, India, Thailand, Indonesia, South Africa as well as Australia. It is slated to arrive in Oz in the third quarter of 2015.
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Written byFeann Torr
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