Ford Endura gets ghost Vignale

FORD has received Australian Design Rule (ADR) approval for a high-end Vignale specification for its upcoming Endura large SUV, even though it has no immediate plans to introduce such a vehicle in this market.

 

The Endura Vignale sits above the luxury Titanium level in Europe and the United Kingdom, where the five-seat wagon is known by its international name, Edge.

 

Ford Australia’s recently released price list for Endura shows only three specifications – Trend, ST-Line and Titanium – for the Canadian-built vehicle that is scheduled for launch next month.

 

But documents submitted for Australian vehicle homologation and published on a federal government website show the fourth variant, Vignale.

 

The data for Vignale shows it has the same 140kW 2.0-litre diesel engine and eight-speed automatic transmission as the other variants but comes standard with the all-wheel-drive system that is optional on the other versions.

 

The document does not list the luxury features that signify top-shelf Vignale specification, but in the UK, the Edge Vignale comes with high-end perforated leather seat upholstery, 20-inch polished alloy wheels and bigger tyres, premium paint, 10-way electric front seat adjustment and hands-free tailgate, among other things.

 

Vignale buyers also get another layer of customer service, similar to that of luxury car brands.

 

But don’t rush out to your Ford dealer to order one just yet. Ford Australia product communications manager Damion Smy told GoAuto that the Vignale was off the sales agenda in Australia.

 

He said the Vignale had likely been submitted for Australian type approval by Germany-based Ford Werke GmbH so the Ford Australia product planners could draw from its features for the Endura Titanium.

 

He said that in Australia, Titanium specification was regularly higher than in other markets.

 

A check of the Australian-spec Endura Titanium shows that it gets items such as the 10-way power seat adjustment, 20-inch polished alloy wheels and hands-free tailgate operation that are available on Vignale in Europe.

 

Pricing for Endura starts at $44,990 plus on-road costs for the front-wheel-drive Trend and tops out at $67,990 for the all-wheel-drive Titanium.

 

All three specifications can be had with FWD or AWD, with the latter costing $4000 extra.

 

As reported, Ford Australia was forced to come up with the Endura name for Australia because the global badge, Edge, was all tied up in trademark registration locally by Toyota Australia, which uses it periodically on its RAV4 special editions.

 

For history buffs, Ford took the Vignale name from a one-time Italian coachbuilder founded in 1948 near Turin by Alfredo Vignale. The company supplied bodywork for Italian car-makers including Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Ferrari and Lancia.

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