While the Ford Everest is officially the biggest rival to the Toyota Fortuner, South Africa’s favourite ladder frame SUV, the reality is that it is miles behind in terms of sales.
But with the introduction of the 2.0-litre single turbo diesel engine, which has resulted in the seven-seater range starting at R128 000 lower than before, the Ford Everest might just make up a few strides on the Toyota Fortuner.
Ford Everest makes a Pitstop
On this week’s episode of The Citizen Motoring‘s Pitstop podcast, we discuss the arrival of the single turbo Everest. And we predict how it will impact the rest of the line-up.
Like the Ford Ranger, the Everest has also dropped the 2.0-litre bi-turbo diesel engine that produced 154kW of power and 500Nm of torque. But unlike the Ranger, which already offered the 125kW/405Nm 2.0-litre single turbo in its current generation, the Everest in its current form was not offered with this powertrain option since its introduction in 2022.
Like the Ranger line-up, the revised Ford Everest range now features the single turbo and 184kW/600Nm 3.0-litre V6 diesel mills. While a 2.3-litre petrol engine was introduced in the Ranger, the Everest will only later get the petrol mill. All the engine derivatives are mated to 10-speed automatic transmission.
Starting price slashed
The single turbo is offered on a new model derivative called the Active in both two-wheel and four-wheel drive. The two-wheel drive version is priced at R825 000, which is R128 000 less than the base bi-turbo model was.
The most affordable automatic Toyota Fortuner in two-wheel drive 110kW/400Nm 2.4-litre diesel guise starts at R712 900. The most affordable 2.8-litre derivative starts at R834 700.
Two other ladder frame SUVs, the Isuzu MU-X and Mitsubishi Pajero Sport, starts at R752 400 and R789 990 respectively.
