Scaling the Everest

Is it built on the Ranger platform? Does it have a ladder frame? Will it be powered by the Ranger’s engine? These questions popped up in motoring journalists’ minds when Ford Motor Co. unveiled the stunning Everest Concept during Media Day at the 35th Bangkok International Motor Show in Thailand recently.

 

The questions will remain unanswered, however, until the time when the new Everest is launched, possibly later this year or in 2015. The doors of the Everest Concept displayed at the Ford pavilion were locked, preventing anyone from inspecting the interior or the engine. At the press interview convened exclusively for the Philippine media, Ford Asia Pacific president Dave Schoch, Ford Asean president Matt Bradley and Ford Philippines managing director Kay Hart amiably evaded questions about the new Everest’s production timetable, specs and retail price range.

 

NOT FINALIZED. They would only reveal that Ford Australia developed the Everest Concept from the ground up and while the midsize seven-seater SUV is ready for production, its specs have not been finalized. They neither confirmed nor denied that it is based on the 2014 Ranger, Ford’s best-selling vehicle in the Philippines, even as the current Everest has the powertrain and underpinnings of the previous generation Ranger.

 

“The Concept just gives you an idea of what the new Everest will look like,” Bradley said. “Like the current Everest, the production version of this next-generation SUV will be built right here in Thailand.” He added that the Everest Concept represents their vision of a global One Ford design with regional heritage that will allow customers to take on the world. The Asean debut of the Everest Concept in the Bangkok auto show was preceded by its global reveal in Sydney in August 2013.

 

EXPANDED MARKET. The Everest Concept displayed as the centerpiece  of Ford’s participation at the Bangkok International Motor Show was painted an eye-catching bright red with a flash of orange that Ford calls “Sunset Flare,” a bit similar to the Mars Red body paint of the Ford EcoSport mini urban SUV. With this new iteration, the Everest expands its market from the Asean region to the six continents in which Ford distributes vehicles. The Everest also graduates from the Asian utility vehicle level to the premium global SUV class since Ford claims it sets a new benchmark for combining world-class toughness and premium comfort and refinement.

 

With the showcased Everest Concept’s doors locked and the Ford regional executives present acting genially but tightlipped about its specs, Ford News was limited to a description of its exterior: the headlamps are connected to a prominent inverted trapezoid grille set high to maximize the headlamps’ dimensions, communicate better functionality while emphasizing the grille and the SUV’s width.

 

SCULPTED PROFILE. “The headlamps are swept back for a modern and aerodynamic look.  The vehicle’s profile is sculpted, with sleek and tailored body sides that give the Ford Everest Concept a modern and sophisticated air.  At the back of the vehicle, designers placed prominent, chiseled tail lamps over a negative scallop, making for a sculptural and robust rear that contrasts with the square, flat liftgates on traditional SUVs.”  What’s more, the high ground clearance indicates the vehicle’s off-road potential, Ford News says.

 

In effect, Ford teased and titillated the motoring media at the Bangkok International Motor Show by revealing a locked Everest Concept but not revealing its specifications.  Yet that is a tradition with concept cars exhibited at auto shows. It plays to the manufacturer’s advantage as curiosity and speculation generate consumer interest in the soon-to-be-launched vehicle.