Climbing Everest

October 14,2004

Without a doubt, the unveiling of the Ford Everest at the 2002 Bangkok Auto Show started the new wave in people carriers. Though dubbed as the most affordable and practical Ford SUV available in the market, for all intents and purposes, it’s an AUV. And a killer one at that. The reason for calling it as such has nothing to do with the drivetrain or the features. It’s the fact that it’s made, designed, and engineered for the Asian market with its consumers in mind.

That said, it is clear that the Ford Everest would be a winner out of the box not only because of its butch and tough Ranger-based chassis, but because it is the only one in its class that offered proper seating for 7 as well as a complete array of safety equipment. Though the looks may be derivative, according to Vernon Sarne’s (The Manila Times) interview with chief platform engineer Chuck Bambenek, the Everest took a full four years to develop. The fruits of Ford’s labor paid with month after month of record sales despite an overall weak market.

However, as with all pioneering products, the Ford Everest opened itself to new competition. With Mitsubishi deciding to stick their guns by facelifting the Adventure/Freeca, it’s clear that the Everest’s main opponents would come from the stables of Isuzu and Toyota—both veterans of the AUV segment.

Isuzu Adventure Master

A few months after the blitz of the Bangkok Auto Show, Isuzu unveiled the D-Max pick-up, a product resulting from a General Motors/Isuzu collaboration. It had all the right ingredients for success: a butch and modern body, a powerful turbo diesel engine, a high rigid drivetrain, and like the Ranger, a full set of safety features. It was obvious for people that if ever Isuzu would develop an Everest challenger, it would be based on this platform. What wasn’t obvious is that Isuzu won’t be building one themselves.

The Adventure Master is a product from independent Thai assembler, Thai Rung Manufacturing Limited. This is the same company that assembles the Xciter aka Frontier in Thailand. Like Ford with its Ranger, Thai Rung utilized much of the exciting D-Max design and platform to come up with the Adventure Master. The front and side profiles immediately give away the donor, while a peek under the hood makes things even more obvious.

The frugal and powerful 4JH1-T series engine from the D-Max has been retained as well as the choices for a 5-speed manual or 4-speed automatic. All in all, it means that the Adventure Master enjoys a tad more power (118 bhp vs. 110 bhp) compared to the Everest. Isuzu will make do with the lever-style engagement of the four-wheel drive system in favor of a push-button, shift-on-the-fly system, again as seen on the D-Max pick-up.

Like the Ford, the Isuzu seats 7 inside all facing forward with their own safety belts and air vents. Unlike the Everest though, Thai Rung is offering the Adventure Master with substantially better kit with features such as leather seating and wood grain paneling. Usual safety features such as dual airbags, anti-lock brakes and get this, high-intensity discharge (HID) lamps are standard on higher-end models.

Though built by Thai Rung for the domestic Thai market, plans are already underway to export the CKD kits to countries such as the Philippines.

Toyota Kijiang Innova

While Ford and Isuzu have gone SUV-ish in their execution of new generation AUVs, Toyota is banking on a completely different route for their challenger, the Toyota Kijiang Innova. More MPV than SUV in appearance, Toyota’s knack of adding a sub-name to an already established nameplate continues, despite the Innova sharing almost nothing in common with its predecessor.

Designed and built in Indonesia, the Kijiang Innova is based on the recently launched Hilux Vigo pick-up. Unlike Ford and Isuzu’s treatment though, Toyota has given the Kijiang a much more modern and original look with the least shared body panels among the three. The result is a look that’s in-between the Toyota Previa and 4Runner with a dash of Revo thrown in for good measure.

Breathing life into the Kijiang Innova is the job of either a 2.0-liter VVTi inline-4 (from the Camry/RAV4) or the new-generation 2.5-liter D-4D common rail diesel engine with dual overhead cams and 4 valves per cylinder. The latter’s of bigger significance since this will be the first Japanese diesel engine that will be certified Euro Step II compliant and still maintaining a healthy output of 101 bhp. Though not as powerful as either the Everest or Adventure Master, the Kijiang Innova makes do with a flatter torque curve (260 Nm at 1,600 rpm to 2,400 rpm). Like its rivals, the Toyota is available with either a 5-speed manual or 4-speed automatic.

With the Kijiang Innova’s sleek MPV appearance, Toyota decided to drop the four-wheel drive layout in favor of a more practical two-wheel drive architecture. This decision enabled Toyota to refurbish the Kijiang Innova with a modern coil-spring beam axle rear suspension compared to the leaf spring set-up on its rivals.

Being based on the newest pick-up on the block, the Kijiang Innova enjoys a highly ergonomic and state-of-the-art cabin with luxurious touches usually found in passenger cars. The Kijiang Innova boasts a tan-shade interior with optional leather seating, wood grain paneling, and optitron gauges. It also has a gated-type automatic shifter and an in-dash CD changer with MP3 capability for utmost luxury.

Like its rivals, the Kijiang Innova is offered as a 7-seater with safety belts and air vents for all passengers. The higher-end models receive dual SRS airbags, anti-lock brakes, and electronic brakeforce distribution. For better handling, Toyota has fitted their challenger with passenger car-like 205/65 R 15 V radial tires.

The Future of the Market

The thorough advancement in design and features of the AUV segment means that they’re here to stay. Though still making up the bulk of local vehicle sales, the declining popularity of the AUV and the rise once more of the passenger car means that people are beginning to buy products with true quality and refinement. The age of the dinosaur-like AUV is finally over. The advent of these new generation AUVs may once again swing the sales figures back in favor of these people carrying, diesel-powered frugality on wheels. And whoever wins the race for the top spot in the sales charts, it is the buyer who eventually ends up as the winner.

By Ulysses Ang | Photos Courtesy of Toyota and Thai Rung

Disclaimer: The comments uploaded on this site do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of management and owner of Cebudailynews. We reserve the right to exclude comments that we deem to be inconsistent with our editorial standards.