Carsales Staff•4 Jun 2014
NEWS
Ford subsidiary develops Defender rival
Brazilian firm Troller introduces T4 off-roader in its home market; but it's a no-go for OzFord Australia won't be offering this vehicle in a blue oval showroom near you. While a media outlet overseas is hailing this vehicle as a new 'Ford Bronco', Ford's local arm sees no market for the car here.
Named the Troller T4, the SUV has been developed for the Brazilian market, but has the potential to sell in other markets around the world. Troller is the company that builds the T4, and was snapped up by Ford just prior to the onset of the GFC.
First reported by American fan site autoblog.com, the Troller T4 looks like it has the right stuff to do battle with the Jeep Wrangler, Toyota's FJ Cruiser and the Land Rover Defender.
We say 'looks like', because while the Brazilian press release mentions the T4 can be fitted with winch and snorkel, there's only the briefest mention of the drivetrain – a 3.2-litre diesel engine coupled to a six-speed manual transmission.
As a grass-roots off-roader, it is reaching the Brazilian market with about a year remaining in the life of the current Land Rover Defender, and the FJ Cruiser is shortly to be discontinued in North America – so it's a vehicle in (almost) the right place at the right time.
But it is definitely ruled out for Australia, as Ford advised motoring.com.au earlier today. That's entirely understandable. For a start, the T4 hasn't been engineered for right-hand drive.
And then there's the sales scope for the T4. Jeep has sold 1173 Wranglers in Australia since the start of this year. Toyota has sold 851 FJ Cruisers in the same period. As for Land Rover, the Defender has sold 273 units. Even assuming the T4 can wrestle some market share off the three stalwarts – you're still talking about a total market under 2500 a year.
Tags
Ford
Car News
SUV
4x4 Offroad Cars
Written byCarsales Staff
Our team of independent expert car reviewers and journalists
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