American car-maker Ford has reportedly been working on the the upgraded version of Endeavour for the Indian market. The SUV has reportedly been known as Everest in the international markets. A while ago, Ford had unveiled the Everest Concept SUV at the Bangkok Motor Show. During the event, Matt Bradley, president of Ford ASEAN, said, “The Ford Everest Concept shows the bold new direction that we envision for a mid-size, seven-seat SUV that has been designed for ASEAN and global markets.” The SUV shall be manufactured in Thailand and shall be sold in India through the CKD route. The existing line of Endeavour SUV seems to have hit a rocky patch with low sales number for the car-maker. Ford is expected to launch the Everest SUV next year to revive the lost sales in the country and stand back as a tough contender against Toyota Fortuner, Chevrolet Captiva and Mitsubishi Pajero. As per sources, the new Endeavour Aka Everest is due for launch in the Indian market sometime late next year.
It is anticipated that the Everest SUV from Ford may be powered with two engine variants – The 2.5 Litre engine that is mated to a five speed manual transmission engine that generates about 145 Ps of power. Whereas, the other variant in 3.0 Liter engine shall be mated to five speed automatic engine that generates about 155 Ps of power. As per sources, the Everest SUV was developed and designed by Ford Australia, the vehicle made its debut at the ‘Go Further’ event in Sydney last year. Moreover, the seven seater Everest is stated to be conceived on Ranger SUV platform with certain structural differences like enhanced wheelbase and a spring rear coil.
On the exterior front the SUV sports trapezoidal chrome grille that is well complimented with a neat set of horizontal headlights. The bumpers are adorned with matte silver skid plate. Smooth flowing horizontal lamps add a distinctive style to the tall bodied structure. The Everest SUV shall be available in 4 x 2 and 4 x 4 variants. For the interiors, the SUV may receive dual tone theme as seen in the current version of Endeavour, besides this nothing has been retained from the outgoing model. A new steering wheel with buttons mounted on it is also expected to be equipped inside the cabin,a revised dashboard and a new audio system are also likely to be seen inside the cabin apart from other various upgrades. Gear lever has been shortened for automatic gearbox and it is expected to feature a cup holder too on its left. Confirmed reports have not been received stating that similar configurations may be carried for the Indian markets, a detailed one may be known post its launch.
Source: AC
