Ford plugs missing SUV links

Ford Australia says the arrival of its compact EcoSport city-crossover in the fourth quarter of this year will finally give it an SUV model mix ready for battle.

Until the EcoSport arrives, Ford hopes next month’s all-new Kuga mid-sizer and the larger homegrown Territory will offer Australian SUV buyers what they’re looking for.

With more and more small and mid-size crossovers destined for the nation’s booming SUV sector, Ford Australia president and CEO Bob Graziano said the new Kuga and EcoSport would cover all SUV bases alongside the Territory, which continues to sell well.

“We’ve got a strategy of cars, trucks and SUVs [across the] small, medium and large [segments], and I think once we get the EcoSport in the portfolio we’ll be able to cover the spectrum of what customers are looking for,” Graziano stated.

“It’s clear that SUVs are continuing to increase in terms of popularity.”

Sales of SUVs continue to soar in Australia, where they spiked by more than 25 per cent last year, led by compact SUVs (up more than 50 per cent).

Sales of both medium and large SUV sales were also about 20 per cent in 2012 and the trend is continuing this year.

Toyota continues its stranglehold on the large SUV segment with the Prado, although the Territory last year returned to second place ahead of the Japanese brand’s Kluger and Holden’s Captiva 7.

However, while Ford and Holden will both enter the small segment this year (the latter via its all-new Trax, which was to have been launched in the first quarter), Toyota appears to have no plans for a model smaller than the RAV4.

Graziano was coy when asked how far the improved blend of SUVs would drive Ford’s SUV sales, but indicated the Kuga’s improved mix of powertrains and model variants would help remedy the shortfall of its petrol-only predecessor.

“I don’t know that I have a percentage in mind, but I think that the percentage will increase this year simply because we have a full complement of Kuga [variants] where we were somewhat constrained last year when we launched the prior generation,” he said.

But Graziano was unequivocal when asked if sales of smaller SUVs like the Kuga, top-end pricing for which crosses into that of lower-end Territory models, would erode sales of the Aussie-built model.

“No, they’re different demographics,” he stated, adding that he believed Territory buyers would not cross-shop the Kuga because the third-row seat was high on the list for “established families”, whereas “younger families” prefer a five-seater like the Kuga.

While Ford Australia’s SUV portfolio will be complete by year’s end in terms of small, medium and large crossovers, Graziano remained tight-lipped on the timing of an all-new large off-roader based on the same Australian-developed T6 platform as the Ranger ute.

“We don’t discuss future model plans,” was all Graziano would offer on the subject.

As with the Ranger, Ford Australia is understood to be responsible for the design and engineering of a Ranger-based wagon to replace a model known as the Everest or Endeavour in some markets.

According to recent reports, the all-new Everest will be built alongside the Ranger in Thailand and sold across Asian and South East Asian markets including Australia, wher it would compete most directly with the Prado and Holden’s Colorado 7.

A production version had been tipped to debut at the Bangkok motor show earlier this month but is yet to materialise.

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