new2ford

An interesting thread that gets to the heart of the matter. It shouldn't surprise you lordricey (or you at Ford either Territory) because Ford has tapped a huge latent demand that has been there a long time (Leyland/Rover Australia/Land Rover were considering such a car more than 20 years ago but decided the love affair with the 4WD was still too strong then, and the Rangie was still in its prime). Our family bought the Territory because we wanted a car (not a truck), one that drove like a good car, but had the space etc of a 4WD. I also seem to recall that the Wheels road tests found that the RWD Territory was a marginally better road car and the AWD was a good compromise that had that added dirt ability. Point is, people are now moving away from driving those big Tonka trucks to schools, shopping centres and along the highway (where they figure prominantly in single vehicle accidents that wipe out whole families, because a natural instinct in an untrained human is to suddenly correct the steering when confronted with a situation, resulting in the vehicle going over). Real off road (meaning off dirt roads as well) - that's another matter, but the AWD Territory is obviously a vehicle that can satsify both needs to the degree that most people need (that is, no worse than dirt roads). Until the great marketing con came along that convinced people they needed a 4WD to travel on a dirt road, everybody (as any older country dweller will tell you) got along fine in RWD Holdens and Falcons and even FWD BMC cars which were excellent on dirt. All the Territory is doing is bringing Australian motorists out the other end of a marketing era that has served the Japanese importers very well thanks. Thing is, of course, is that those importers are big enough and smart enough that they will come up with a challenge soon just like the Mini got copied by every small car since.