Ford confirms axing of Endura large SUV

RUMOURS have been swirling for a little while now, but has Ford Australia has officially confirmed it is dropping its Endura large SUV from its line-up permanently.

Due to disappear from local showrooms by the end of the year, the Endura has been one of the slowest-selling sub-$70,000 large SUVs on the market and was outsold almost five times over by the bigger Everest.

In terms of direct rivals, only the Nissan Pathfinder has performed worse on the sales charts this year ending October with just 950 units sold compared to 1015 Enduras.

Ford however is more focused on the situation within its own model range and how it can capitalise on ever-evolving market trends.

“With the expansion of the Ford SUV line-up in 2020 to include the all-new Puma and Escape, as well as our growing Everest offerings, we’ve decided to hone our SUV line-up to these three vehicles,” Ford Australia communications director Matt Moran said.

“Puma and Escape are our fresh entries in two of the fastest growing segments in Australia, so this is where we see significant opportunity.”

Arriving in Australia back in December 2018, then-Ford Australia president and CEO Kay Hart said the brand was not expecting the Endura to be a particularly high-volume seller, instead marketing it as a more premium offering within the local line-up.

“We’re not expecting huge volumes from it, (but) we are expecting it to do really well and fill a gap that we have currently between Escape and Everest,” she told GoAuto at the time.

Available exclusively as a five-seater (a rarity in its class) , only one engine is offered under the bonnet of the Endura, that being a 2.0-litre turbo-diesel four-cylinder developing 140kW/400Nm with power sent to either the front or all four wheels via an eight-speed automatic transmission.

As alluded to earlier by Mr Moran, the Everest range has been undergoing a fairly rapid expansion over the past 12-18 months with no less than 10 variants currently in showrooms covering both five- and seven-seat configurations as well as being available in either rear- or all-wheel drive.

Based on the Ranger pick-up, the Everest is available with the familiar line-up of diesel engines and has enjoyed a 4.0 per cent increase in sales so far this year ending October compared to the same period last year, irrespective of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mr Moran attributed the sales growth to the increasing number of variants coming to market however he would not be drawn on the possibility of more Puma or Escape variants joining the line-up – we already know the aggro Puma ST will not be making it to our shores.