New Ford Territory – 3 things you need to know about this SUV

After an absence of more than 15 years, the Ford Territory nameplate made recent return locally.

Having been replaced by the Kuga in the late 2000s, the new Territory has now been replaced by the ill-fated Kuga that was discontinued in 2021.

But unlike the original Ford Territory, which was built by the Blue Oval in Australia and shared a platform with the Falcon sedan, the new reiteration of the SUV come from China. It is a joint venture between Ford and Jiangling Motors Corporation (JMC). In other markets, it is sold as the Ford Equator Sport.

The new Ford Territory was launched locally earlier this year with a starting price of R576 000. This should put in in good stead against the Kuga’s traditional rivals like the VW Tiguan, Toyota RAV4, Mazda CX-5, Kia Sportage and Hyundai Tucson. Not to mention a host of other Chinese products now present in the C-SUV segment that has no less than 35 players locally.

The Citizen Motoring has put together the three key things you need to know about the new Ford Territory.

Powering the Ford Territory

Things has taken a dramatic turn under the bonnet since the previous Ford Territory, which was powered by a 4.0-litre straight-six petrol engine.

The new Ford Territory is offered locally with a 1.8-litre EcoBoost turbo petrol engine which produces 138kW of power and 318 Nm of torque. The power is sent to the front wheels via seven-speed dual-clutch transmission, with all-wheel drive not under consideration.

Up until now, this mill was only offered in the Middle East and South America. In China, a smaller 1.5-litre EcoBoost is used in the SUV.

We achieved fuel consumption of 8.5L/100km recently which included a combination of city and open road traffic.

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Exterior styling

If you are struggling to see any Blue Oval resemblances between the Ford Territory and the Ranger, Everest and Puma, it’s because there aren’t any. The the Puma’s styling is very much European-inspired and the Ranger and Everest undoubtedly US truck-like. But the Territory is more akin to the likes of Chery and Haval.

But this Far East-resemblance will do little to deter potential buyers. Its modern and stylish finishes are well rounded off by either 18- or 19-inch alloy wheels.

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Interior styling

Inside, the only similarities other than the Ford badge between the Territory and its siblings is the font used of the display text. The latter consists of a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster and either a 7-inch or 12.3-inch infotainment system screen.

The system does not feature Ford’s SYNC software as the system isn’t offered in China.

The typical-Chinese finishes like piano-black and wood trim does not classify as typical Ford. But it fits the overall design very well. In fact, we thought the combination of materials adds a lot of class to the cabin.

The Ford Territory SUV offers 448-litre boot space which increases to 1 452 litres with the second row folded flat.