Called the Everest elsewhere, the 2016 Ford Endeavour has been caught in what is perhaps the final stage of testing in Thailand. Snapped without any camouflage, Ford has confirmed that it will start production of the new SUV this year at their plants in China and Thailand. The manufacturer will take the Endeavour of bringing down the SUV to India in the form of CKD kits, which will then be assembled into full size SUVs at their Chennai facility before it hits showrooms in the latter part of 2015.
While the Everest will be available with three engine options internationally, two oil burners and a petrol motor, only the former two or one of them could be on offer in India. However, given the plummeting prices of the lighter fuel, we wouldn’t be surprised if the petrol version makes it here too. The petrol motor is a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder unit, the smaller diesel a 2.2-liter four-cylinder motor, while the range topper is a 3.2-liter five-cylinder diesel engine. Expect both Auto and manual gearbox choices to be available at launch along with the option of 4WD. Competing against the Toyota Fortuner, Hyundai Santa Fe, Ssangyong Rexton, the slow selling Honda CR-V and the Isuzu MU-7, if priced right, the upcoming Endeavour could give the very popular Fortuner a tough fight for the top spot of the Indian entry level premium SUV space.
Source: MZ cars on facebook