Ford's Explorer ruled out for Oz

Here's what Australians want from SUVs: torque for towing, a balance of power and economy, a mix of comfort and safety.

It seems that actual offroad ability is lowly ranked on the scale of buying criteria. That's the supporting argument for Ford developing the diesel-engined Territory in both rear- and all-wheel drive forms. Towing is believed to be more important to Australians than ultimate bush-bashing credentials.

Beth Donovan, Ford Australia's VP of Marketing, Sales and Service, spoke with the Carsales Network during the launch of the new Territory. Is the Territory enough to meet all that the market demands of a medium SUV these days, we asked? What about bringing in the Explorer from the US, as Ford Australia did in the past -- to complement the local SUV range?

It's Donovan's view that "Explorer and Territory are different vehicles", but perhaps they're not different enough. The new-for-2011 Explorer is now built on a monocoque platform and its ground clearance (193mm) is closer to the Territory's than the 226mm clearance of earlier Explorer models sold here.

In effect, the Explorer -- still wearing the Ford badge, but without the Territory's excellent diesel or iconic petrol six -- would sink without trace in the pond that is the VFACTS medium SUV segment... or perhaps be swallowed whole by two other big fish in the pond, both Toyotas.

As it is, the locally-designed and manufactured Territory has what it takes to counter Toyota's two medium SUV models, the Kluger and the Prado, Donovan argues.

"I look at it this way: I think Territory can take them on, both -- and we've actually done a lot of work on that. Kluger is 100 per cent petrol and Prado is 20 per cent petrol and 80 per cent diesel."

Territory now offers what Ford judges to be the right balance of refinement and drivetrain technology to answer both Toyota SUVs in the marketplace. Donovan revealed that some of the market research conducted during the development of the new Territory involved current Prado owners.

"We've done a lot of research obviously, in the development of this vehicle," she said. "And the Prado customers that we've had in research, a lot of them have said 'I would definitely consider [the Territory]'."

It's been known since Ford introduced the original SX Territory in 2004 that roughly half the sales are rear-drive only.

"[In] The overall industry... many people will say: 'I only go offroad three or four times a year, but I still buy a 4x4'. The same thing's true for towing. People just want the capability..." Donovan further explained. "In this segment... they buy more than what they really need all the time."

According to Donovan, the 2011 Explorer has moved closer to the Territory concept as a consequence of Ford's platform rationalisation strategy, 'One Ford'. Minor variations on vehicle concepts -- such as the Territory-like Taurus X -- have been dropped altogether or conceptually merged with other similar vehicles.

"What ended up happening [in North America]... we had several two- and three-row 'crossovers' -- they're a cross between an SUV and a car, which is what Territory is," Donovan explained. "We had several of those in our portfolio and we said: 'we can still give the customer what they want -- and we don't need to have it across all these nameplates'."

"With Territory," Donovan continued, "I would argue that [it] and Mondeo wagon -- they get the job done, in Australia, for those same reasons. They can take people, they've got a lot of utility in them and they've got excellent technology..."

That utility includes the ability to tow, but not necessarily tow offroad. For that, buyers who want to tow caravans and boat trailers into the bush are probably going to pass by the Ford dealer on the way to the Toyota dealer or possibly the nearest Chrysler-Jeep dealer, where they can pick up the new Jeep Grand Cherokee.

Jeep has priced the latest model of its luxury SUV to play havoc with Territory sales -- although that's yet to happen. Donovan doesn't consider the Jeep represents a threat to the Territory.

"No, honestly I don't," she said. "We benchmarked who the market leaders are -- and that's what we've targeted."

We expect Ford will still enjoy a price advantage against the Grand Cherokee when Chrysler introduces the diesel version in coming months, but the Jeep will test Donovan's assertion that SUV buyers don't necessarily 'need' four-wheel drive.

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