Gac Aion Ut vs Ford Endura

What's the difference?

Chinese newcomer GAC couldn’t have timed the arrival of its Aion UT in Australia any better.

At the time of writing, we were in the midst of another Middle East-related fuel crisis, and more buyers than ever before were considering switching to their first electric car.

It’s a good thing there hasn’t ever been a better time to buy one, especially with price tags getting lower and lower thanks to keen new players like GAC.

The Aion UT, which is a vaguely Corolla-sized hatchback is now one of the most affordable new EVs on the market, and aims to outfox its primary rivals, like the BYD Dolphin and GWM Ora.

But, as you may have figured out by now, newcomer brands can come with their fair share of quirks. So, is the Aion UT the affordable hatchback it needs to be? We went to its Australian launch to find out.

For most Aussies it probably seems the Ford Endura has just magically appeared and some of you might be wondering where Ford’s Territory went. Well, meet the new Territory… kind of.

Where the Territory was Australian-made, the Endura is built in Canada, and this model has been on sale in the United States since 2015.

The Endura received a big revamp at the start of this year and now it’s been introduced here because Ford’s had a gap in its line-up since the end of local car making meant the end of the Territory.

We went to the launch of Ford Australia’s new large SUV to see how it coped with our local roads and to investigate what it offered in terms of practicality, space and value.