Ford will be launching their all-new Endeavour in India in January, 2016, and while the outgoing model did bring in a good sales number for Ford initially, it was soon outdated because of the arrival of more modern rivals like the Toyota Fortuner and the Chevrolet Captiva. And now, Chevrolet has brought in the Trailblazer as well (read our road test review here). Ford, however, has packed the 2016 Endeavour with a host of new features and updated engines that just might do the trick.
The Ford Endeavour, like the Fortuner, is offered with two engine options  a 2.2-litre and 3.2-litre turbodiesel. The 2.2-litre engine might be the smallest of the lot, but with 160PS and 385Nm, it packs more punch than the older and larger 2.5-litre unit in the Fortuner. The Endeavour's 3.2-litre engine, however, is the largest here and makes as much power (200PS) as the 2.8-litre turbodiesel used in the Trailblazer. However, this Endeavour produces 30Nm less torque than the Chevy, which makes a good 500Nm.
Although the Trailblazer is offered with just a 6-speed automatic gearbox, the Endeavour and Fortuner get manual variants as well. Both the engines in the Ford can be optioned with a 6-speed automatic or manual, while the automatic and manual transmissions in the Fortuner are 5-speed 'boxes.
The Trailblazer is also the only SUV here that is offered with just a two-wheel drive. The Ford Endeavour and the Toyota Fortuner, however, can be specced for either 4x2 or 4x4 specifications. While the Trailblazer does have a 253mm ground clearance and hill descent control, it is far from being as capable off the road as the other two SUVs. The Fortuner is a proven off-roader, and we found the Endeavour to be quite capable too when we first drove it in Thailand. It gets hill assist, hill descent control and Ford's Terrain Management System with four modes  Sand, Snow, Mud and Rock. Along with the 225mm ground clearance, the Endeavour has a water wading capacity of 800mm.
The Ford Endeavour also gets quite a bit of tech and features that the other two miss out on. To make things more convenient, Ford has fitted it with semi-automatic parallel park assist, active noise cancellation, electronically folding third row seats and a powered tailgate. The Endeavour also gets Ford's MyKey feature and seven airbags, while the Fortuner and Trailblazer get just two (driver and passenger airbags).
At 4,892mm, the Ford Endeavour is the longest SUV of the lot with a longer wheelbase as well (2,850mm), but by very little, as the Trailblazer measures 4,878mm in length and has a wheelbase that spans 2,845mm. The Trailblazer, however, is the widest SUV here by quite a margin, while it is tallest by just 1mm over the Fortuner.
The Fortuner is at a bit of a disadvantage here, because it has been in the market for quite a while now. However, Toyota will launch a completely revamped Fortuner next year, and that should put them back on a level playing field.