Endura Culled.

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by roKWiz

That average Joe you speak of might be a large fleet buyer who's not looking for upspec bells and whistles.

Well Ranger and Hilux are getting the lions share of the segment,
no doubt there are skin flints out there buying discounted Tritons
but by and large, more manufacturers are looking to increase prices.

[roKWiz]

Originally Posted by jpd80

Well Ranger and Hilux are getting the lions share of the segment,
no doubt there are skin flints out there buying discounted Tritons
but by and large, more manufacturers are looking to increase prices.

I notice a few skin flints buying the new Triton lately especially now they are offering a 10 year warranty and hope they keep doing so.

[roKWiz]

Originally Posted by jpd80

Well Ranger and Hilux are getting the lions share of the segment,
no doubt there are skin flints out there buying discounted Tritons
but by and large, more manufacturers are looking to increase prices.

Its funny you mention the skin flints buying Tritons, I think of all the Ranger and Toyota skin flints buying unsuitable tow vehicles for their overweight trailer, 5th wheel and caravan's

At least RHD RAM's, Chevy's and converted F150 are better suited to this ever increasing towing mass, market.
Ford needs to build some real trucks again. Big balloon tyres and a sticker pack don't cut it in the medium weight range.

[Dr Smith]

At home we're currently surrounded by home renovations and complete rebuilds and tradies utes everywhere, young workers in base models and the workers with some years behind them in newer/higher spec versions. I asked one driving a 6 month old Wildtrak if Ford announced a V6 diesel was coming next year would he have held off buying the current one. Simple answer no, he just would have waited so trade-in or private sale matched his payout figure.

He also said his banker was offering to re-finance all his borrowings at today's much lower rate, this would give him lower finance on some of his vehicles bought in 2017/2018, so he can borrow more, pay less per month and be fixed for 3 years...and work is piling up.

Low finance is here for a while so sales like Ranger are safe as long as they don't blow the new product.

[naddis01]

Originally Posted by Dr Smith

Low finance is here for a while so sales like Ranger are safe as long as they don't blow the new product.

The new styling seems to be love it or hate it, if the photos and renders are right.

[Bossxr8]

Originally Posted by Dr Smith

At home we're currently surrounded by home renovations and complete rebuilds and tradies utes everywhere, young workers in base models and the workers with some years behind them in newer/higher spec versions. I asked one driving a 6 month old Wildtrak if Ford announced a V6 diesel was coming next year would he have held off buying the current one. Simple answer no, he just would have waited so trade-in or private sale matched his payout figure.

He also said his banker was offering to re-finance all his borrowings at today's much lower rate, this would give him lower finance on some of his vehicles bought in 2017/2018, so he can borrow more, pay less per month and be fixed for 3 years...and work is piling up.

Low finance is here for a while so sales like Ranger are safe as long as they don't blow the new product.

It looks awesome

Will move the game forward just like the 2011 one did.

[DFB FGXR6]

Originally Posted by Bossxr8

It looks awesome

Will move the game forward just like the 2011 one did.

Sounds like this new model will be on my shopping list then.

I hope they make a single cab with the expected V6 engine.

[Dr Smith]

And now Europe releases the Hybrid Kuga/Escape and Ford Australia plays funny buggers...a real Rav4 Hybrid competitor and they pretend they're an American Warship Captain neither able to conform or deny they are nuclear armed and yet "Warning Nuclear Radiation Hazard" warning signs are plastered on the side of the bulkhead...

https://www.carexpert.com.au/car-new...stralian-plans

Many just cannot fit chargers or run cables to their cars when parked on the street, want hybrids and this Escape has a claimed range near 1000km..diesel type economy and a proven sales success for this type of powertrain in Australia. After Ranger THIS should be Ford Aust's most important seller.

[Yellow_Festiva]

Well - this is an interesting idea:

Has this Volvo patent solved the LHD v RHD dilemma?
Imagine if your car's steering wheel slid from side-to-side. Volvo's recent patent filing does exactly that, opening the door for easier right-hand drive production.

How many times have us Australians been denied cars because their makers didn’t invest in right-hand drive (RHD) production? Heck, it’s a main reason there’s no more Holden.

Without putting the cart before the horse, a widely reported-patent application in the United States submitted by Volvo Car proposes a neat sliding steering wheel as a solution.

The proposed system might make the process of producing cars in left- and right-hand drive in the same factory much cheaper and easier, allowing the dreaded business case for right-hook vehicles to make more sense for markets like ours.

Australia all-too-often has the taste for vehicles popular in markets like the (LHD) USA, but with insufficient volume potential to justify tooling in an assembly plant. Examples include the Mazda 3 Turbo, or Ford Bronco, or Dodge Charger Hellcat – to name just a few.

It’s also why, for instance, Ram 1500s or Chevrolet Silverados sold locally are re-engineered by Walkinshaw in Melbourne to be driven on local roads.

The proposed steering system and associated technical drawings show a steering column and wheel that slides along a track assembly running perpendicular to the road. The wheel can be moved and along the rails and locked into a market-suitable position.

To make the system as modular as possible, the patent filing describes a driver’s instrument screen readout that sits atop the steering column and moves right along with it, plus the potential for a gear shifter mounted to the steering column à la Mercedes-Benz.

Brake and throttle pedals in this system can be fitted in a moveable pad designed to fit either wheel well. Or, as the filing says, “an acceleration activator device and a deceleration activator device… comprising a pressure sensitive pad that is adapted to be disposed in or on one of a floor mat and a floor component of the vehicle in a location adjacent to a steering wheel assembly”.

The steering wheel might also be fixed centrally like a McLaren F1, though this feature is designed for vehicles with Level 4 or 5 autonomous capability that might mean you want to shuffle the wheel over to give yourself more sitting room.

“Another advantage is that when the vehicle is operated in a mode that is primarily automated, the controls can be moved away from human passengers to improve the comfort of the passengers, although the controls can still be accessed from any suitable position when they are needed,” says the filing.

The technical feasibility of such a system as this has been made greater thanks to drive- and steer-by-wire (pioneered by the Infiniti Q60 Red Sport) setups with fewer fixed mechanical components linking the steering to the wheels physically. These clunky mechanical linkages can be replaced by electrical wires or even wireless communication.

“For example, the control systems… may be configured as ‘drive-by-wire’ systems, wherein [they] include manual activation elements, but these elements may not necessarily be directly connected to mechanical components for controlling the vehicle,” the filing says.

“Instead of a direct connection to mechanical actuators, the manual activation elements may provide electrical output signals that can be communicated through a dedicated system of electrical conductors or via a wireless communication protocol.”

The invention of the system is credited to Jonas Gothlin and Niklas Palm. More here.

https://www.carexpert.com.au/car-new...-v-rhd-dilemma

As I said - if designed right from the drawing board there is no reason why we can't have RHD models here for similar prices to their LHD alternatives.

[bathurst77]

Ford Oz created the brilliant Territory just as the SUV wave started, and it sold well, and opened new market segments to Ford Oz.
But rather than ride that wave and develop Territory,, more versions, more engine choices, improvements and Big updates, they just ignored it, with a few half baked updates, and let it wither on the vine, til it was past its sell by date and the competitors had caught up and passed it by.
Then oh dear nobody buys aussie cars, we have to close down"
something about roots, brothels and $100 notes

[Smoke Pursuit]

I drove a new Escape on the weekend. Very impressed although the size is a bit of a let down for me (to replace our MD Mondeo Titanium). Overall a nice package and went extremely well. Steering was a bit touchy but other then that I really couldn't fault it.



I would have preferred an Endura but i don't want a 2 year old car (only old crumbs left). As my MD still has 2 + years warranty left I will run it another year and probably go for an XC60 Volvo.

[Dr Smith]

Originally Posted by Smoke Pursuit

I drove a new Escape on the weekend. Very impressed although the size is a bit of a let down for me (to replace our MD Mondeo Titanium). Overall a nice package and went extremely well. Steering was a bit touchy but other then that I really couldn't fault it.



I would have preferred an Endura but i don't want a 2 year old car (only old crumbs left). As my MD still has 2 + years warranty left I will run it another year and probably go for an XC60 Volvo.

I think I've read same about steering, sounds odd but described as too direct...being EPAS I'm sure that could very easily be tweaked if considered a problem...or maybe it's that all competition has "inferior steering"