Here and gone – Endura’s short NZ residency
A big Canada-sourced five-seater SUV that only got here in mid-2018 is leaving Ford’s local line.
The endura as it released in May of 2018. By the end of that year it had a new look, new drivetrain, new tech.
TAKING a name suggestive of longevity wasn’t any help to the Ford Endura – two years on from its local launch, the big Canadian-made five seater sports utility has been dropped from New Zealand sale.
The Auckland-domiciled brand’s confirmation of the model’s demise was not unexpected; earlier this week the car’s only other right-hand-drive customer, Ford Australia, also pulled the plug.
Ford NZ declined to comment on speculation that the car was doomed without our neighbour’s support, spokesman Tom Clancy suggesting that the car had been “reasonably successful” in our market.
He also cited that the model is set for complete withdrawal from production, as it does not synch with Ford’s move toward an electric vehicle future that demands specific platforms. The Endura’s underpinning is not suited to that purpose, he said.
He voiced same optimism expressed in Australia about Ford still having decent SUV strength without Endura; citing – as Melbourne’s PR team has –the recent expansion of that family to include the new Puma and Escape. In addition, Ford has a Everest off-roader.
Ford NZ says it never saw Endura coming in to reprise the opportunity left by the Falcon-derived Territory, a much-loved car in New Zealand that ended production on 2016.
Because? Mainly on grounds the new model was a five-seater whereas Territory had room for seven. As does the Everest – though Ford also made clear that Ranger-based vehicle wasn’t a Territory equivalent, either.
However, families looking for a large Ford might have viewed Endura (which would have been called Edge here, had not Toyota New Zealand claimed dibs to that name) differently. Despite offering fewer chairs it was similar sized and had similar performance traits to the big Aussie, including capability for some limited off-road operation.
The car’s entry into the market in May, 2018, was interesting; the initial model offered was a short-term proposition, as it arrived in a $73,990 ST Line all-wheel-drive biturbo diesel format whose design dated back to 2014. It already been superseded in North America (where it represents as the Edge) and the United Kingdom.
Ford NZ had 300 of the pre-facelift cars to sell then subsequently moved in December of 2018 into the refreshed product which offered specification and technical improvements, notably a drivetrain change.
The initial car’s 154kW/450Nm 2.7-litre V6 turbodiesel and six-speed direct shift gearbox was usurped by an eight-speed auto biturbo 2.0-litre diesel with 140kW and 400Nm, and one variant became three: Trend, ST-Line and Titanium, spanning from $53,490 to $69,990.
Ford NZ says it has a handful of cars left in stock.