Meet Ford’s fourth E - the Endura SUV
It’s been a long time coming, but the Blue Oval’s new SUV will reach NZ next year, writes Rob Maetzig.
Ford has finally announced its New Zealand replacement for the Australian-built Territory SUV.
The vehicle is the Endura, a Canadian-built vehicle that is known in other parts of the world as the Edge, but which can’t be called that in this region because Toyota Australia has dibs on the name.
So the decision was made to call the new SUV Endura, in keeping with a strategy of giving all Ford SUVs sold in New Zealand and Australia a name starting with E: the small EcoSport, medium-sized Escape, and large Everest.
The new model will go on sale during the first half of next year, and will be sold in a single premium sports-oriented ST-Line only.
It will carry a recommended retail price of $73,990.
Ford New Zealand says the Endura ST-Line will feature an enhanced design with distinctive alloys, body styling kit, unique badging, upgraded sports suspension, and a twinturbocharged 2.0-litre diesel engine that will develop 154kW of power and 450Nm of torque.
‘‘The Endura will be a real standout offering in what is a fiercely competitive market,’’ says Ford NZ managing director Simon Rutherford.
‘‘While SUVs continue to grow in popularity, the capability, design and technology that comes with the ST-Line gives the Endura an edge over its competitors and is a fantastic way for Ford to introduce the new nameplate to New Zealand.’’
The Endura will be the second ST-Line vehicle to arrive in New Zealand, joining the Mondeo STLine due to be introduced this year. In addition to the performance-oriented powertrain, the Endura will boast a number of premium features including active noise control and active park assist.
It will also have a number of advanced safety features including pre-collision assist with pedestrian detection, a camera- and radarbased system that can detect vehicles and people on the road ahead.
This system can automatically apply the brakes if a potential collision is detected and the driver does not respond to warnings.
The Endura will also feature Ford’s intelligent all-wheel drive technology as standard, that seamlessly transitions from frontwheel drive to AWD to provide a more secure footing on the road especially in slippery conditions.
This AWD system measures the vehicle’s traction every 16 milliseconds - 20 times faster than it takes to blink - and can send up to 100 per cent of engine torque to the front or rear wheels.
Ford says that by delivering torque when and where it is needed, intelligent AWD has minimal impact on fuel efficiency compared with permanent AWD systems.
The Endura ST-Line will have a number of noise control devices.
Active noise control silences unwanted cabin noise by creating inaudible ‘‘white noise’’ to cancel out any unwelcome noises.
Acoustic windscreen glass and laminated glass on both front door windows will further reduce wind noise, while underbody panels and wheel-arch liners will help keep road noise down.
The new SUV will feature an advanced 2.6 TDCI engine with two turbochargers.
The primary turbo works at lower speeds, giving extra boost when needed.
The second turbo operates at higher speeds such as overtaking a slower-moving vehicle.
Ford NZ says limited numbers of the Endure ST-Line will go on sale in May.