Toyota Prado take down? Everest V6 SUV can do it says Ford boss

Ford’s global boss believes the new V6-powered Everest has what it takes to compete with Toyota’s dominant LandCruiser Prado.

Speaking to CarsGuide at the recent seventh-generation Mustang launch in Detroit, Ford CEO Jim Farley was optimistic and excited about the recently launched Everest, and believes this new model will allow the Blue Oval brand to challenge Toyota’s off-roader dominance.

“Everest is a very important thing for us because we’ve never really been able to compete successfully in the market with Toyota, and now we have a chance with the new Everest,” Mr Farley said. 

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He believes the new 3.0-litre turbo-diesel V6 engine developed for the new Everest (and Ranger) will give Ford the muscle it needs to compete with the Prado and possibly even the LandCruiser 300 Series.

“We got a V6 in the Everest and Toyota got rid of their V6,” Mr Farley said, seemingly referencing Toyota’s decision to drop the petrol V6 engine from the Prado in 2017.

However, even with the extra power and torque from the V6 engine, there’s still a lot of work to do for Ford to overtake either the Prado or LandCruiser 300 Series on the Australian sales charts. 

According to the latest new car sales figures which cover up to the end of August, Ford has sold 6004 Everest in 2022, compared to Toyota’s 15,928 Prados and 8280 LandCruisers. These figures don’t account for the introduction of the new Everest, which only officially launched in early September and already has huge demand for V6-equipped Sport and Platinum variants.

Mr Farley has reason for confidence that the V6 Everest could help increase the popularity of the Ford, with the wait times for these models already stretching up to eight months. Fortunately for Ford, not all customers face a lengthy wait, with Everest variants powered by the 2.0-litre bi-turbo engine reportedly still available from dealers.

The Ford chief also praised the work of the Australian-based design and engineering team that created the Everest’s ute sibling, the Ranger. He compared the Ranger to the company’s US leader, the F-150 pick-up, with the new line-up that includes a wider range of variants than before, including the XLT, Sport, Wildtrak and Raptor.

There's huge demand for V6-equipped Sport and Platinum variants.

“Ranger’s got a lot more diversity in it,” Mr Farley said. “If you look at F-150 we do a lot of different things with F-150, from work to Raptor to street trucks to a street racing performance truck. So, I think Ranger has a lot of new derivatives.”

The new Ranger has certainly made an immediate impact on the Australian market, with 4380 examples sold in August - its first month on sale. Like the Everest, select V6-powered Ranger models are already so popular the waiting list for them stretches up to nine months.

Mr Farley will get an up-close look at the new Ranger and Everest soon, revealing he is visiting the Thailand factory where the pair are built in late September.

As previously reported, Ford Australia has established a separate page of its pubic website to keep customers informed on the latest updates over waiting times for all models, particularly its all-important Ranger and Everest.