Ford Everest: For The Wild Side

After teasing us with a picture a few days ago, Ford has unveiled the Everest; a full-size SUV built for off-road driving that could give the Dodge Durango a serious run for its money… If it was sold here.

You read that right: this is another international product that Ford won’t import to our shores. That’s sad, since a quick look at its specs shows a very promising vehicle.

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Capable of seating 7 passengers, the Everest is based on the Ford Ranger, another very interesting truck we can’t get. The SUV is clearly designed to be taken off-road, featuring aluminium underbelly protection plates, 80 cm water-fording capacity, hill-start assist, four-wheel drive supplied via a central transfer case, adaptable traction control for the type of terrain you encounter…

The interior is well-appointed, too: it features more than 30 storage spaces, three rows of seats, the latest version of SYNC accessible via an 8-inch touchscreen, front and rear parking sensors and a set of microphones in the vehicle that listens to the background noise and generates a reverse wave to cancel it out. This means that the driver can talk to the people sitting in the third row without having to yell.

Since the vehicle is sold in China, Australia, New-Zealand, India and South Africa, the engine selection is generous. The base-model gets a 2-litre Ecoboost, but buyers can also opt for a 2.2-litre turbodiesel inline-four or even a 5-cylinder, 3.2 litre diesel mill. And since people in these countries asked for it, a six-speed manual transmission is standard (but the automatic is available as an option).