Jury still out on Ford Territory replacement name

Ford Australia insists it is no closer to deciding on what the Ford Territory replacement will be called, barely six months out from its local arrival.

Contrary to reports this week that Ford has cemented ‘Endura’ as a moniker for its large imported SUV, known globally as the Edge, Australian stakeholders have confirmed there is no official update on their part.

The Territory replacement, expected to be available in five-seat and seven-seat forms, is set to arrive in Australian showrooms in early 2018.

Ford Australia sought to trademark Endura in late April, and is currently awaiting approval from the Australian government. It also trademarked the ‘Equator’ name in January, which is one step closer than Endura in the government’s approval process.

Speaking with motoring.com.au, Ford Australia public affairs director Martin Gunsberg said the trademark process did not necessarily reflect Ford’s naming intentions for the Territory replacement. Gunsberg also confirmed Ford had given up the fight to use the Edge name after its Australian trademark owner, Toyota, declined permission.

“There is no update on name, we have recently trademarked a second name and we previously trademarked Equator,” he said. “This is not an indicator at all that we’ve decided on a name. We’re not confirming that these names will even relate to this product either.”

Until Toyota’s intervention, Ford was intent in using the Edge moniker in Australia, which would align with the car maker’s current ‘E’-heavy SUV nomenclature strategy: EcoSport, Escape (re-named from Kuga) and Ranger-based Everest.

“When we know we’ll be sure to share,” Gunsberg said.

The Edge was released in the US in 2014. It is expected that the Australian model will bear new facelift changes … and a different name. What it is remains anyone’s guess.