NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
    • Cooking the Books
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand

Ford Everest shakes up the competition

By Damien O'Carroll
NZ Herald·
18 Nov, 2014 05:00 PM5 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

The classy interior and huge amount of technology Ford has jammed into the Everest propel it beyond the Ranger. Photo / Supplied

The classy interior and huge amount of technology Ford has jammed into the Everest propel it beyond the Ranger. Photo / Supplied

Ford SUV has reached the pinnacle of technology, styling and engineering, writes Damien O'Carroll

When Wang Xigao, chairman of China's Jiangling Motors Corporation (JMC), excitedly announced that the Chinese name of the just-revealed Ford Everest SUV would be "Road Shaker" there were enthusiastic cheers from the Chinese media, bewildered looks from the Australasian media and one barely stifled bark of laughter.

Okay, that last one was me. For some reason the idea of calling a large SUV "Road Shaker" struck me as very funny indeed.

After all, we were in China, the new home of the world's funniest car names. I mean, the bus we had ridden to the event venue in was called a Nedplan 1202 D-bag. Really.

But why exactly were we in China for the global reveal of a vehicle that had been designed and engineered in Australia?

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Simple really, as well as being Ford's newest and shiniest big SUV that will go on sale across the Asia-Pacific region next year, the Everest is also the first Australian designed and engineered vehicle to be built in China.

The Everests we will get in New Zealand will come out of the right-hand-drive production of the Rayong plant in Thailand, where we get our Ranger utes from, but the Chinese news was the first really big and unassailable proof that Ford Oz has a strong future in the global Ford empire post-Falcon production.

The Everest has more than a passing relationship to the hugely successful Ranger ute.
Despite Ford engineer David French's statement that the Everest is "its own car" and that Ford "doesn't really talk in terms of platforms", the Everest has long been acknowledged as being based on a shortened version of the Ranger platform - or rather, that bit that the body sits on and that the suspension hangs off.

But in this case, while the suspension at the front may be somewhat familiar, the gear at the back is rather different to that of the Ranger, with coil springs and a Watts linkage set-up replacing the Ranger's leaf spring ute set-up.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The international reveal in Beijing of the Ford Everest. Picture / Damien O'Carroll

While this is much like the other ute-based SUVs on the market (Holden Colorado, Isuzu D-max and Mitsubishi Challenger) it is obvious, even from a quick glance, that Ford has put a lot more effort into creating the Everest than just bunging a roof, a couple of extra doors, a bunch of extra seats and some different suspension into a Ranger.

The styling is hugely more cohesive and deliberate than the other ute-based SUVs, and the amount of new technology, styling and sheer engineering effort that Ford has put into the Everest marks it out as a vehicle that stands several rungs further up the ladder than the opposition.

But the classier interior and huge amount of technology that Ford has jammed into the Everest actually lends credence to the engineering line that the Everest is "its own car", with advances over the (already massively impressive) Ranger that strongly suggest a vehicle that will be remarkably good on the road and even more remarkable off it.

Discover more

New Zealand

Avoid those flat batteries

14 Nov 08:05 PM
New Zealand

A few options for towing the caravan over those hills

15 Nov 06:00 PM
New Zealand

Take a drive down memory lane

16 Nov 04:00 PM
New Zealand

Rare motoring gems go under the hammer

15 Nov 05:00 PM

The international reveal in Beijing of the Ford Everest. Picture / Damien O'Carroll

With its proper SUV construction of a separate body-on-chassis and ground clearance of 225mm and a fording depth of 800mm, the Everest already threatens to be one of the most capable off-roaders on the market when it goes on sale some time in the second or third quarter of 2015. The addition of an advanced terrain management system that gives drivers four preset settings - normal, snow/gravel/grass, sand and rock - that alter the vehicle's throttle response, transmission, intelligent four-wheel-drive system and traction control ensure the Everest will boast the best of both worlds, in terms of hitting the muddy stuff - the proven mechanical way of doing it and the new hi-tech way of doing it.

But this blend of hi-tech and proven doesn't end in the mud - the Everest's on-road abilities have come in for a similar treatment.

Curve control - designed to help drivers maintain control when approaching turns too quickly - lane departure warning and lane keeping aid - two technologies that help prevent drivers from unintentionally drifting out of a lane - and blind spot information system (BLIS) with cross traffic alert - which informs drivers when there is a vehicle in their blind spot while driving or when preparing to reverse out of parking spots - will all be available on the Everest, as well as other advanced features, including adaptive cruise control, forward alert with collision mitigation, roll stability control and an electronic stability programme.

Ford Everest. Photo / Supplied

The Everest will be available in 4WD and RWD, with a range of three engines - a 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol EcoBoost, a 2.2-litre four-cylinder Duratorq diesel and the Ranger's mighty 3.2-litre five-cylinder Duratorq diesel - and a choice of either a six-speed manual or six-speed automatic transmission.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Ford says it will announce regional specification and pricing nearer the time of launch, but it is safe to expect that New Zealand will be seeing most, if not all of the new tech.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from New Zealand

New ZealandUpdated

Kiwi top cop's new Australian police chief job at risk after citizenship questions

29 May 08:10 PM
Herald NOW

Petrol price war in Auckland - how low will they go?

New Zealand

Lakeside holiday homeowners face big sewerage bills

29 May 07:58 PM

Gold demand soars amid global turmoil

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from New Zealand

Kiwi top cop's new Australian police chief job at risk after citizenship questions

Kiwi top cop's new Australian police chief job at risk after citizenship questions

29 May 08:10 PM

Victorian Government rushing law change to ensure Mike Bush can stay in new role.

Petrol price war in Auckland - how low will they go?

Petrol price war in Auckland - how low will they go?

Lakeside holiday homeowners face big sewerage bills

Lakeside holiday homeowners face big sewerage bills

29 May 07:58 PM
'All sorts of destruction': Tornado strikes Hamilton, thunderstorms buffet upper north

'All sorts of destruction': Tornado strikes Hamilton, thunderstorms buffet upper north

29 May 07:38 PM
Explore the hidden gems of NSW
sponsored

Explore the hidden gems of NSW

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • What the Actual
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven CarGuide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP