The Ford Territory is one of the most practical car designs around, so it's no surprise that it has dominated its market segment in the Australian sales race since its 2004 launch.
It can carry seven adults in reasonable comfort, but like most seven-seaters it's much more comfortable if you have four adults and three children on board. Getting into the rearmost seat is a bit of struggle, partly due to the car's height off the ground.
Interestingly, the 2WD Territory has outsold the 4WD variant, but Ford's marketing gurus are well aware it would be financial suicide to produce a vehicle that didn't sit high and look tough on the road.
Territory does an excellent job of providing extra seats without being excessively large. It's actually shorter than a Falcon sedan, let alone a Falcon station wagon.
It's offered in a variety of models, some of which are turbocharged, and all of them powered by a six-cylinder engine. All engines are mated to a six-speed automatic transmission that works beautifully with the powerplant.
Naturally enough, all engines are thirsty.
The combination of ease of driving and parking, good interior space (it's sold as a five-seater if you don't need seven) with plenty of handy stowage compartments and conservative styling obviously appeals to a large number of buyers.
The next Ford TERRITORY update is expected around March 2011. The Territory is expected to be updated some time in 2001. It will be based on the Falcon platform and feature a turbo diesel option.
