Toyota RAV4 vs Ford Endura

What's the difference?

The Toyota RAV4 is arguably Australia’s darling and has been for years. It’s long set the benchmark in the mid-size SUV segment - a position rivals like the Hyundai Tucson, Kia Sportage and Mazda CX-5 would love to occupy.

It’s also been close to a decade since we’ve seen anything new from the RAV4, so expectations for this sixth-generation update are understandably high. For this family review, we’re testing the flagship Cruiser Hybrid 2WD, which brings the most features and the biggest price tag in the line-up.

On paper, it promises meaningful upgrades, particularly in technology and refinement, while holding onto the practicality and efficiency that made it so popular in the first place.

But with stronger competition and rising expectations in this segment, the question is no longer whether the RAV4 is good, it’s whether it’s done enough to stay at the top.

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.