new2ford

But which came first - the chicken or the egg? As we all know the Territory came into being as the result of survey feelers but, sure, it is further testing the waters in its real form and has borne out the feedback from its product-development surveys. It is an evolutionary vehicle - a car (in its mechanical dynamics and safety) with some 4WD body architecture. It goes a step further than the X5 for instance in abandoning any pretence to be an off-roader. People need to see it as a car, as Wheels does, not the "4WD that wasn't" as the 4WD magazines have been trying to do. And so a light truck it certainly isn't, which gives us Territory owners an immediate and huge handling and safety bonus over owners of medium-large 4WDs whose market the Territory has stormed into. Somehow the new term "SUV" doesn't seem to cover the changing concepts adequately any more. And the concept introduced by the Territory will continue to develop further over coming years - with fuel efficiency becoming a greater emphasis.

 

Nobby

The term SUV is woefully inaduequate for most vehicles its attached to; they're almost never even remotely sporty. Infact, at least for Australian interests, the utility portion of the acronym is a misnomer too.

A truer 'SUV' would be an SS/XR8 ute, really.

Lets face it, the Territory is a larger fancy vehicle acting as a car and people mover at the same time, and it does both very well. But the term people mover is hardly one which exactly inspires enthusiasm in the consumer, hence the misuse of 'SUV' with its bizzarly positive public perception. We need a new category, and neither SUV nor people mover are it.

new2ford

Seems to me they need to stop aping the Americans whose conditions are quite different and return to the good old fashioned term Station Wagon - reworking it to fit the new types of vehicles that have evolved. The Range Rover started life as a station wagon before it became a 4WD and then an SUV. Same vehicle though! We'll set this as tonight's homework for the VFacts people.