As posted at xtramsn.co.nz
Early Visit For Ford Territory
25/07/2003 01:31 PM - By Richard Bosselman
Ford Australia's all-wheel-drive future, the exciting Falcon-based Territory, made a flying visit to New Zealand this week - 11 months before it reaches the showroom.
The Blue Oval's $500 million homegrown cross-over will very likely hit both markets next June.
Ford Oz president Geoff Polites also told XtraMSN Motoring that only New Zealand and Australia will take Territory at this stage and it will only be produced with Falcon's twin-cam, 24-valve 182kW/380Nm 4.0-litre inline six.
A V8 to match Holden V8 Adventra is out of the question. Ford's new 5.4-litre eight won't fit under the snub bonnet without extensive and expensive re-engineering, he said.
Likewise, Ford cannot re-engineer the car for left-hand-drive, which kills its export potential for the lucrative Middle East markets where rival Holden is going well with Commodores rebadged as Chevrolets.
While Polites and Ford Performance Vehicles would both like to create a hotshot turbo six model, this also presents big challenges, due to the amount of heat build-up under the bonnet.
However, an FPV spokesman conceded that a turbo variant would be a "must" if the car was to have any true credibility with hot car buffs.
Earlier reports that Ford wanted to build 32,000 examples per year were confirmed by Polites, who said Ford planned to ramp up production at the Broadmeadows plant from 90,000 at present to around 120,000.
How many will come here is not known. Ford NZ boss Richard Matheson was reluctant to cite any kind of sales target, though he believed Territory would be a huge success for this market.
Ford has always stressed the success or failure of the car, known internally as E265, did not depend on export success, saying it was calculated to make money on purely domestic sales.
However, it is clear Mr Polites expects to see a fair swag being bought here. One catch is that neither market wants to see Territory take sales off other Ford product; specifically Falcon wagon but also Mondeo wagon and perhaps even Escape.
The example shown to XtraMSN Motoring this week was a "confirmation prototype", one of 90 fully-function examples currently being used by the Blue Oval for exacting pre-release road trials.
The metallic cobalt blue car brought across the Tasman for just three days (it's en route home now) had clocked almost 40,000 kilometres and been trialled in Port Hedland, Western Australia; Queensland's Fraser Island and Mt Kosciusko, Australia's highest peak, in New South Wales.
Ford New Zealand pulled a real coup in getting the car here. Ford Australia has been running the car undisguised for several months now, but a full-on media preview of this kind has yet to be replicated across the water.
Here - as there - Ford is keeping the interior layout a secret. The car had blacked-out glass for the NZ preview, tied in with the launch of the GT and long-wheelbase Falcon product (more next week).
Nonetheless, a company spokesman confirmed the picture of the dash just published in an Australian monthly motoring mag had caused huge ructions within Melbourne head office - not least because the cars running on the road have a dashboard cover that, on this occasion, seems to have slipped off.
The Australian spokesman said although the dash had now been seen, there was plenty more about the car's interior that would surprise.
It's said to offer "innovative and exciting" solutions to cargo storage, including a rear window that opens independently of the tailgate, a cockpit-style driving environment instead of walk-through capability, seating for five plus an optional two-seat third row, bringing seating capacity to seven.
Territory is likely to be positioned between the large local sedan and traditional four-wheel drive price points. No-one is taling price, but it's probable it could start at around $50,000.
Conceived and designed Down Under, Territory has the Falcon's Control Blade independent rear suspension, a redesigned front suspension to handle drive to the front wheels, and a unique full-time four-wheel drivetrain.
Expect sedan-like handling dynamics with full-time four-wheel drive, increased ground clearance and longer suspension travel capable of light-duty off-road work - but no low-range.
"Low-range is not what the customers want. They're not looking to drive over Mt Kosciusko in this carm but around it. Even so, I can assure you this is a pretty impressive car off the road."
Polites call the car a huge milestone in the 78-year history of Ford in Australia.
"It represents an exciting new phase of our development as a vehicle designer and manufacturer. Territory is unique - nowhere else in the Ford world do they have a car like this. It brings the Australian car industry to the cutting edge."
As expected, the finalised Territory has not changed much from the R7 concept presented by Ford last year, save for details such as mirrors, wheels and a different dual-opening front grille.
Polites reiterated Territory is not simply an all-wheel drive Falcon-based wagon - nor even a wagon. Indeed, he says it is not fair to even call it a Falcon, even though it starts life on the short-wheelbase BA Falcon's platform, uses a number of BA components and will be built on the same assembly line.
However, with shorter overhangs at both ends it's actually shorter than a Falcon sedan overall.
The Territory is the product of four years and $2 million worth of market research that began in 1998, 18 months prior to approval for the BA Falcon was received.
What will it compete against? Focus groups were shown the previous Lexus RX300 (since replaced by the RX330). But Honda's MDX is also cited as being similar in concept to Territory. Remarkably, Polites doesn't view the Holden Adventra, a jacked-up four-wheel-drive Commodore wagon previewed this week, as being a direct competitor.
"We talked to large car owners, owners of large 4WDs and owners of people movers and we found that although each of these owners was reasonably happy with their current vehicles, they could all identify areas where their vehicle didn't match their needs and wants," Polites said.
"Large car buyers liked their car's performance and handling, but wished it could do more in terms of adapting to their lifestyle."
Four-wheel-drive owners loved the command driving position and the versatility but wished it handled like a car. They also admitted that they didn't need the full-scale off-road ability and weren't happy with the upfront and operating costs.
"And some told us that while they enjoyed the freedom and ruggedness of their four-wheel-drive, they didn't enjoy driving it to work in traffic every day.
"People mover drivers grudgingly admitted that their car was very practical, but they hated being the bus driver.
"So there was basically an unmet need out there for something that offered the handling and style of a car with the versatility of a 4WD or people mover," he said.
Ford research has shown both the medium and large passenger car segments were shrinking while sales of off-roaders - especially compacts - were increasing.
Territory will land two months after the baby Fiesta, a chic three- and five-door Euro hatch, comes into the market