The company has filed a patent in India for the Endeavour and backed out from the sale of its Chennai factory.
04 Jan 2024 | 34489 Views | By Autocar India News Desk
Having filed a patent in India for the Endeavour, listing new job openings, and making a u-turn on the sale of its Chennai plant, Ford has sparked off speculation of a possible return of the Endeavour to India. Indeed, our sources tell us the American car giant is gearing up ...
This is an Autocar Pro Plus article. Subscribe to continue reading.
Having filed a patent in India for the Endeavour, listing new job openings, and making a u-turn on the sale of its Chennai plant, Ford has sparked off speculation of a possible return of the Endeavour to India. Indeed, our sources tell us the American car giant is gearing up for a return to sales in India post its closure in 2021.
The patent filed is for the design of the current generation Endeavour that is on sale in markets like Thailand, as the Ford Everest SUV. Having launched in international markets in 2022, this generation did not make it to India and, as such, would be new to our market.
The plan is to assemble the Endeavour at the company’s Chennai factory. However, our sources also tell us directly importing it is also being mulled over. With the import of fully-built up cars without homologation still allowed – up to 2,500 units per year – Ford could import the current Endeavour into India much sooner, while it readies itself for local assembly in 2025. Moreover, with the price of its main rival, the Toyota Fortuner, having skyrocketed, with top-end models touching Rs 60 lakh on road, a fully imported Endeavour would still be competitive against the Fortuner. Ford had also earlier made its intention clear that it was open to the idea of selling direct imports to keep a foothold in the local market.
Ford had two plants in India – one at Sanand, which was sold to Tata Motors in 2022, and the other in Chennai, which it had also put on the block only to decide to hold onto it instead, despite multiple offers from OEMs like Vinfast, MG and Tata Motors. All regulatory clearances for the sale of the plant had been obtained and workers compensation settled, thus, the sale of the plant, or as it now appears, Ford restarting operations, would not face any significant hurdles. Moreover, since the plant was already producing the previous Endeavour – which shares some underpinnings with the new-gen SUV – retooling to produce the new Endeavour would be relatively easier.
As such, Ford restarting sales was always on the cards. Even after the sales had halted, the company kept some service operations going and regularly advertised service and warranty packs. Unlike General Motors, that chose to exit the market to focus on key regions, Ford did not want to actually exit, but was faced with no alternative after its deal with Mahindra fell through.
Coming to the new Ford Endeavour, it continues to sit on the Ranger pickup's platform, which means it still gets the ladder-frame architecture. It also shares quite a few design elements, body panels and powertrains with the Ranger.
It gets a boxier front end with a large grille that features a horizontal bar in the middle, extending beyond the grille to the new Matrix LED headlights with C-shaped daytime running lights. The new SUV definitely has a more squared-off design, with a more upright rear-end that features new inverted L-shaped LED tail-lights that extend on to the more upright tailgate; the lights are connected by a black plastic panel.
The three-row cabin is completely new with a more modern dashboard design dominated by a portrait-oriented 12-inch touchscreen (10.1-inch on lower trims) that runs Ford’s latest SYNC infotainment software and a 12.4-inch digital instrument cluster (8.0-inch on entry-level trims).
On the safety front, the new Ford SUV gets nine airbags, hands-free parking, adaptive cruise control with lane keep assist, and Ford’s Pre-Collision Assist with Intersection Assist, which allows the car to apply the brakes if it detects an imminent collision, either with the car in front or any oncoming traffic.
Engine options on the new Everest include two 2.0-litre turbo-diesel (a single turbo and a twin-turbo version) and a new 3.0-litre V6 turbo-diesel, just like the new Ranger. Gearbox options include a 6-speed manual and a 10-speed automatic, depending on the engine. Some markets also get the SUV with 2WD setup.