2015 Ford Everest confirmed for production; Will have minimal changes from the concept

Ford unveiled the 2015 Ford Everest at the Bangkok Motor Show a few days ago and according to reports, the production model won’t be much different from the concept. This concept is almost identical to the one unveiled last year in Sydney and will later end up in India as the Endeavour.

The 2015 Everest was confirmed for production yesterday and will be manufactured at Ford’s facility in Rayong, Thailand. The new Everest will share the facility with its donor car, the Ford Ranger, and will hit the showrooms in 2015, for ASEAN markets.

The 2015 Everest was developed by the company engineers from Australia, though the car won’t be sold there for a while. Dubbed a true off-roader’ by Ford, the car looks similar to the Territory SUV, which will be phased out in 2016.

Speaking about the new Everest, Mark Fields, Ford’s main operating officer said, “This is our eyesight for a huge, seven-seat off-road SUV to allow our consumers to tackle the globe and it was made by our world-class design team below in Australia. We think our consumers will certainly adore the unique design, which plainly showcases the Ford Everest Concept’s exceptional off-road capability and strength.”

The new Everest will ditch the leaf spring suspension in favour of coil springs, though it might take longer for the car to get independent suspension. Besides the completely refreshed rugged looks, the car will also get the latest equipment kit, including an eight-inch touchscreen with the updated SYNC2 multimedia system.

For India, we expect Ford to retain the current car’s engines, a 2.5-litre TCDi engine producing 141bhp and 330Nm of torque and a 3.0-litre unit producing 154bhp and 380Nm of torque. While the 2.5-litre unit comes only with a six-speed manual gearbox, the 3.0-litre unit will be mated to a new six-speed automatic.

The Endeavour is currently brought to India through the completely knocked down (CKD) route and the next car will continue to follow the suit. The Everest was expected to be unveiled here at the 2014 Delhi Auto Expo, though Ford had other plans and it showcased a facelift of the car. This facelift is expected to hit our showrooms later this year, in order to keep the car fresh till the new car is brought here. The Endeavour, thanks to its robust looks and massive road presence, had a successful run in India, but since the entry of the Toyota Fortuner, sales figures have been quite uninspiring. The car was updated long ago and to match up to the competition, Ford needs to bring in the new Everest as soon as possible.