On 7 October, 2016, the Ford Falcon reached the end of its road after over three million were constructed and sold almost entirely within Australia.
Not long after, Holden ended local production of its Commodore on October 17, 2017, after 3.1 million units were built over five generations (four generations if you're a Holden purist and don't count the imported ZB).
General Motors outsourced the construction of the Commodore to Opel, its British subsidiary, for two years before dwindling sales figures killed the model, while Ford just killed the Australian brand off altogether.
While it's easy to sit and reminisce on the true-blue Australian Falcon, in the latter years of Ford Australia, it created one of the most popular SUVs in the country at the time – the Territory.
The Territory had a trick up its sleeve: it was entirely developed and made in Australia, for Australians. This completely outperformed the Falcon wagon in sales and marked the beginning of a shift in the country's buyer preferences, from large sedans to medium SUVs.
Not to mention it was incredibly impressively priced. On launch you could get into a base-model TX for just $38,990 (plus on-roads) compared to a Toyota Land Cruiser Prado with a six-cylinder for $43,390 (plus on-roads).
The Territory held its ground as one of the top sellers in the country for over a decade, being equipped with a Land Rover 2.7-litre turbo-diesel V6 and a choice between a naturally aspirated or turbo Australian-designed and built petrol 4.0-litre inline-six Barra engine.
But Ford ceased production in 2016 and offloaded the last of its Territory stock in 2018, spelling the end of a much-loved and very Australian SUV – in fact, the only Australian SUV (if you consider the Holden Adventra a wagon).
A domestic market simply was not enough to keep the Territory alive, and Asian counterparts would later swallow it. Ford Australia did export 12,000 to New Zealand, around 2300 to South Africa (where it was constructed for that market in 2004), and around 100 to Thailand but nothing to save the beloved beast.
But the Territory name actually continued on, with real Australian development, just without ever setting foot in Australian showrooms.
The Chinese revival of an Australian car
Ford was looking to do something with its 32 per cent share of a Chinese brand called Jiangling Motors (JMC) for the Asian domestic market, one that Ford isn’t particularly big in.
A joint development of what is technically the second generation of Ford Territory began by using the Yusheng S330 as a base – a small front-wheel-drive SUV that had been in production since 2016.
While the model may seem like a rebadge of a Chinese with a familiar name, Ford told CarGuide Philippines that it was actually developed with help from the Australians.
“Ford has technology and manufacturing partnerships globally, and while the Territory is a product between us and our joint-venture partner Jiangling Motors in China, the design, development, engineering, testing, and drive assessment are all owned by Ford,” a spokesperson for Ford told the Philippines auto website.
“The design, for example, was done by Ford’s design studio in Melbourne, Australia; testing and validation were done in both Geelong Proving Grounds in Australia as well as in Nanjing, China; and the engine itself is jointly developed by Ford of Europe and Jiangling Motors.”
The second-generation Territory, which is technically the first-generation Chinese one, slots in between the Puma and the larger Escape.
Unfortunately, the stonking Barra died with the Australia model, and customers were left with a Chinese-developed 1.5-litre turbo four-cylinder in front-wheel drive in the choice of a petrol-only engine, a 48V mild hybrid with a Miller Cycle petrol engine, a plug-in hybrid, and later an EV.
Interestingly enough, the Chinese version bested the Australian Territory in its first model year – 47,893 for 2019 versus the Aussie best of 23,454 in 2005.
The Territory is now in its third generation (second Chinese generation) and still sports that little 1.5-litre but has had a third row added, a pretty attractive facelift, and actually looks like what you’d expect the Territory to look like if it continued its life span in Australia.
With neither generation of Chinese Ford Territory having been sold in Australia, but for a nameplate that only really matters to residents Down Under, it makes you wonder why.
Why wasn’t the Chinese Ford Territory sold in Australia?
Your first instinct may be to think, “Oh well, it's built in China, so it’s left-hand drive, conversion would be too expensive”. But that’s not the case; the current-model Territory is sold in right-hand-drive countries such as the Philippines, South Africa, and Vietnam.
We reached out to Ford Australia to find out more. A Ford Spokesperson told Drive that it's unlikely we will ever see the model here, but they are always looking at right-hand drive models for consideration.
"While the original Ford Territory was born in Australia in 2004, the latest generation Territory lives on as an international product designed for other global markets."
"We are always investigating business cases for various models that are available to us in right-hand drive as we develop our product cycle plans, we have no news to share regarding plans to bring the Ford Territory that is sold in other markets in the region to Australia."
It's entirely likely that it simply does not fit into the Australian line-up. We don’t need something to fit between the existing small Ford Puma and medium Ford Escape.
Due to its engine size and layout, we could possibly expect a similar market reaction to what Australian buyers experienced when the ZB Commodore replaced the Australian-made VF, namely radio silence.
But why name the car a Territory if there’s no actual connection to the model in that country? Well, Ford likely wanted to use a trademark it had already paid for, continue the lineage and use the Australia Territory as an example, or it simply just liked the name.
Either way, we can rest easy knowing our beloved Australian SUV is still alive somewhere in the world, just not in the way we expected.
Zane Dobie comes from a background of motorcycle journalism, working for notable titles such as Australian Motorcycle News Magazine, Just Bikes and BikeReview. Despite his fresh age, Zane brings a lifetime of racing and hands-on experience. His passion now resides on four wheels as an avid car collector, restorer, drift car pilot and weekend go-kart racer.
