Ford confirms Endura SUV
Ford Australia has confirmed its incoming Endura large SUV will be offered with a warm Stline variant, among others, when it enters showrooms in December.
Ford Australia provided fans a sneak peek of the St-line, which adds a sporty edge to the Canadian-built Endura – the somewhat spiritual successor to the home-grown Territory.
Specifically, the St-line ups the ante with its black mesh grille insert, body-coloured door, wing and side mouldings, aggressive front and rear bumpers, chrome dual exhaust tailpipes and black 20-inch alloy wheels. Larger, 21-inch rims are optional.
Inside, perforated partial-leather Dinamica microfibre upholstery, 10way power-adjust front seats, a redstitched sports steering wheel with paddle shifters, aluminium sports pedals, a black headliner and velour floor mats feature.
Furthermore, a sportier suspension tune combines with speed-sensitive power steering to improve the Endura’s dynamics beyond that of regular variants.
As such, the Endura joins the Focus small car and Escape mid-size SUV as the only models in Ford Australia’s line-up to soon be available in Stline form.
The Australian-market Endura will be exclusively offered with five seats and a diesel engine, meaning the hot ST flagship available overseas is unlikely to make it Down Under due to its 250kw-515nm 2.7-litre Ecoboost twin-turbocharged V6 running on petrol.
The diesel engine in question is expected to be the same 2.0-litre Ecoblue twin-turbocharged four-cylinder unit used in the 157kw Ranger Raptor performance pick-up, among other Ford models.
In the European-market model, the Ecoblue engine produces either 110kw, 140kw or 175kw of peak power, depending on engine tune. Maximum torque outputs are yet to be confirmed.
While Ford Australia told Goauto that pricing and full specification would be released closer to the Endura’s launch, it did confirm that multiple variants will be offered in the range, suggesting the Trend and Titanium will fill out the line-up, perhaps alongside the luxury-orientated Vignale.
The Endura is expected to be available with a long list of advanced driverassist systems, including autonomous emergency braking with pedestrian detection, lane-keep assist, adaptive cruise control with stop and go functionality, blind-spot monitoring, crosstraffic alert, high-beam assist, traffic sign recognition and park assist.
Additionally, an 8.0-inch touchscreen is likely to be powered by Ford’s Sync3 infotainment system, which supports Apple Carplay and Android Auto.
A digital instrument cluster, wireless smartphone charging and a Bang and Olufsen Play sound system are also set to be offered.
When the Endura arrives, it will enter the sub-$70,000 large-suv segment led by the Toyota Prado, 10,702 units, and Kluger, 8808, Subaru Outback, 6543, Isuzu MU-X, 5113, and Mazda CX-9, 5073, in year-to-date sales.
Ford Australia already fields the Everest, 3135 units, in this segment, with the seven-seat model receiving a comprehensive facelift late last month.
While the Endura is known as the Edge in overseas markets, Toyota Australia denied Ford Australia use of the trademark locally after extended negotiations.