FORD Endura

COULD HAVE HAD AN EDGE, BUT FAILED TO GAIN TERRITORY ... ENDED UP WITH LIMITED SALES ENDURANCE

THERE’S BITTER IRONY in the fact that an SUV called Endura was the exact opposite of enduring. In fact, the Ford Endura’s time spent on Australian shores was so limited, it rivalled clothing at a nudist beach for temporary status.

Introduced as an indirect replacement for the 12-year-old Territory, the front- or all-wheel-drive Endura was never really suited to a Large SUV role in Australia due to its five-seat-only capacity. Ford hoped it could piggy-back the Territory’s positioning by offering the Endura and the seven-seat, separatechassis Everest simultaneously, though if you compare the combined sales of those two SUVs with the ageing Territory’s, you’ll quickly realise that sort of wishful thinking was deeply rooted in la-la land.

The Everest did okay but the Endura did a Hindenburg. Launched in October 2018, it stumbled from the very start – its monthly sales topping a paltry 226 in February ’19, followed by one last hurrah of

227 sales in November ’20. In its prime, the Territory managed more than 2000 a month.

Not helping matters was surely the Endura’s name. Unlike in North America, Europe, the UK and China, it couldn’t be called ‘Edge’ in Australia or New Zealand because Toyota held the naming rights so Ford Australia was left to come up with an alternative. Our money was on Maverick, which had previously been used on a badge-engineered Nissan Patrol, but instead, they chose Endura.

Built in Ford Canada’s plant in Ontario, the Endura/ Edge was born in 2006 as one of Ford’s first American crossover SUVs. The second generation launched in 2015 with a variety of powertrains (including a 2.7-litre twin-turbo V6 petrol) though only the 2.0-litre turbodiesel four had been engineered for right-hand drive. Inexplicably, despite having access to the top-spec 154kW/450Nm version, which would have bettersupported the Endura’s premium pricing, Ford Oz chose the 140kW/400Nm engine. At least ours had a proper eight-speed automatic and not the six-speed ‘Powershift’ dual-clutch.

Ford Oz also had the option of taking the Edge Plus – an extended, three-row version developed for Ford China. Thing was, it was also built in China and management weren’t sure whether Australians were ready to accept a Chinese-made Blue Oval product – particularly when replacing the Melbourne-built Territory.

Despite all of this, the Endura was actually a really good SUV to drive (apart from the Titanium’s ride on 20-inch wheels) thanks to its Ford of Europe dynamic tuning, and it wasn’t too bad to look at either. But it was just the wrong car, for the wrong market, at the wrong time, with the wrong price, the wrong engine line-up, and a questionable name.

Living on the edge? No, stepping over it...