The recently introduced new Ford Territory is not looking like a China-only project anymore. The Blue Oval has shipped it to Brazil to gauge the response from South American customers at the 2018 Sao Paulo Auto Show next month. This week, Ford conducted a preview of the vehicle for Brazilian journalists.
Ford has said that in emerging markets where customers can’t afford to pay for models underpinned by one of its five global architectures, it will have to tap into its JV partners and some of its alliances to cater them. It is reported that Ford is applying the “Emerging Market Operating Model (EMOM)”, a cost-cutting exercise through alliances, outsourcing technologies, local joint ventures, platform sharing, etc, and the Territory is an outcome.
Latin America and India have a lot of similarities when it comes to low-cost cars, particularly Ford makes the same B-Segment vehicles in the two countries. If Ford finds the Territory suitable in place of the Ford Kuga for emerging markets, it may invest in an RHD version.
The new Ford Territory is basically a reskinned and more upmarket JMC Yusheng S330, a product lifted from the shelves of its Chinese JV partner Jiangling Motors Corp. It is underpinned by the same platform as the Landwind X7 that apes the Range Rover Evoque. It was approved in about five months, and the journey from approval to mass production was of less than 12 months.
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In China, Ford will offer the Territory in petrol, 48V mild-hybrid petrol and plug-in hybrid petrol powertrain variants. Sales commence in early 2019.
[Image Source: g1.globo.com]
