Territory's sucess - Ford Forums

11-01-2003, 04:18

Already the Territory is creating critism and controversy and it's still months away from release. I'm interested in your opinon about how you think it'll do in the real world. I saw the territory at the Melbourne motor show earlier this year and thought it looked classy and different. Although spending 500 million on it may bring down it's sucess. (comparing that to the money Holden spent on Aventra). It does sound like a very good offroad and town car similar to the escape that that seems to sell alright.

I'm still worried that this car might hurt Ford, the plan obviously worked for the falcon but the Territory is a new car and people are unfamilar with it because it has no history or no impact in the past.
I would like to see it be sucessful, but will it work? maybe Ford have shoving it in our faces for too long rather that keeping it a suprise.

Also the last thing about the Territory is no V8? I'm no expert but V8's whether they are practical or not sell well in Australia and for those rev heads wanting a sh*t hot AWD Territory this will make a small impact on it's overall sucess. I hope FPV make a performance Territory.

Anyway do you guys think it's worth risking so much on the sucess of the Territory, do you think that will work? or you thinking bad news from the start?
cheers MaKaA

bossxr8 · 11-01-2003, 05:15

Why not wait until it's released before you start passing judgement on wether its a failure or a success. Apparently they have already had people at the Sydney Motorshow wanting to place a deposit on it now, which goes to show how much anticipation there is on it. I think it should sell well. Ford has the advantage of being the only manufacturer that offers both a RWD and an AWD model of a crossover vehicle in the country as imported versions with AWD attract less import duty than RWD or FWD versions of their respective versions, and the price will suprise a lot of people when its released.

philbie · 11-01-2003, 05:43

As you have said, it's a newish consept, so I''m not passing judgement until it's been around for a while. it may well just surprise me which way it turns.

Night_Lurker · 11-01-2003, 05:49

as with the others i will hold judgement till i have seen the figures after a year or 2....btw this should be in the pub....its not an FPV topic

dave_au · 11-01-2003, 05:56

I like ford, but I nearly bought a Subaru Outback the other day.

I think its a concern that the territory will be a stand alone model based on the falcon. If it was a falcon stationwagon with 4wd, I think the risks involved in this little investment would be less than introducing yet another CRV "softroader" to the market.

You've got to remember that not all, and indeed not many car purchases are by enthuisiasts - many people would see the 2.3L of the CRV and the 2.4L of the Xtrail to be an advantage over the Territory. And if the price is too high, it will eat into Patrol and Cruiser errr "area". I dont think it could compete with the likes of the Volvo CrossCountry or the Audi Allroad.

Subaru and Holden have basically made their softroaders the upper end of their products lines. Ford needs to carefully balance the Territory as a stand alone model, and its bloodline with the Falcon.

Thats my 2 cents.

chevypower · 11-01-2003, 06:08

when you class a 4wd as being alright...what do u mean?

Alright for somebody who has never owned a 4wd and who has occasionally hit light gravel? You certainly dont see pics of the Adventra doing more than that. However I am sure the Territory is more capable than the Adventra. But, in comparrison to Jeep, Landcruiser, LandRover, Patrol and Range Rover, it wouldnt even touch it.... but that is stating the obvious and i know its not designed to do that. With V8 Explorer XLTs being in lots at around $47,000 i dont think i would buy a Territory for a few thousand less.

dave_au · 11-01-2003, 06:38

^ is that qu aimed at me ?

11-01-2003, 06:45

quote: Alright for somebody who has never owned a 4wd and who has occasionally hit light gravel?

For around $35,000 (approx) the territory will not be anywhere near as treturious as a range rover, jeep, landcruiser ect. It's intented purpose will most likely be for 'bush bashing' aka rocky surfaces, bushlands aswell as around town driving. People will also use it as a people mover or a family car because of the size and price, but will also have the privledge of off road capibilities. Ford RTV should put the Aventra crap back in it's place for now until the Territory whips it's arse. (hopefully)

IMO the Territory will be a good car and if Ford do their marketing properly this could be a big hit I guess we just have to wait. As for the Falcon, I think it should be safe, either way a Territory buyer is a Ford buyer and whether they shift or not it'll just add to their sucessful sales figures.

oh and Night_Lurker, figured that out after I posted sorry,
cheers MaKaA

russellw · 11-01-2003, 16:44

Thread moved.

I have little doubt that the Territory will do ok - whether it achieves the sales numbers being predicted is another matter but I do believe that pricing will be the critical part of the equation. I doubt that the base unit will arrive at the $35k mark predicted above, I suspect it will be closer to $40k with the upmarket sibling at almost $50k - at those levels it still undercuts the Adventra V8 but then it will need to as it needs to achieve much greater volumes than that vehicle does.

Almost certainly some Falcon and Escape sales will be lost to the Terrirtory which is probably a good thing in the case of Escape and a bad thing in the case of Falcon given the relative investments involved - it will be important to closely watch sales of all three units.

Cheers
Russ

One Ford Drone · 11-01-2003, 17:15

I personally think the Territory will be quite successful for Ford and this was seen at some motor shows. For once, all the attention was at the Ford stands and everyone had a good look at the Territory where there were only like 15 people at one time at the Subaru stands.

The first Territory has already been sold (at Sydney Motor Show) and there are already a lot of other people that are putting in orders. Some may think that this car may not be successful, but you will be quite surprised...

Someone said that the Territory is just a 4wd falcon wagon, this is just not so. If you compare it to Holden and Subarus versions, they look more like 4wd wagons than the Territory.

Why will the Territory be successful? It is cheap.