Review: Holden Captiva vs Toyota Kluger vs Ford Territory

[JoeT]

Medium-Sized Soft-Roader: Toyota Kluger vs Ford Territory vs Holden Captiva

Joshua Dowling & Drive Team
10 August 2007
www.drive.com.au

The family wagon has taken on a new form, in the shape of the medium-sized soft-roader. Joshua Dowling and the Drive team test the new Toyota Kluger and its rivals.

It's almost 10 years since the former boss of Ford Australia, Geoff Polites, predicted Australia's incredible appetite for four-wheel-drives would lead to the birth of a new breed of lifestyle vehicle.

From his years on the showroom floor, the former Sydney car dealer who went on to run the company he represented for so many years knew most 4WD owners really only wanted the space and the tall driving position such vehicles provide - and only a fraction of them ever explored the vehicle's off-road potential.

What if there was a vehicle that had the size, space and high driving position of a 4WD but was more car-like to drive and easier to manoeuvre in the city and suburbs?

Not long after he took over as the boss of Ford Australia, in 1999, Polites learned the company's car designers and engineers were on the same track. They were in the early stages of coming up with a soft-roader concept that would use components from the locally made Falcon sedan. Five years later the Territory was born.

It wasn't an easy process. Polites had to ask Ford headquarters in Detroit for $500 million to fund the project at a time when the company was losing vast sums of money globally. It was a big gamble but it reaped dividends. In its first full year on sale in Australia the Territory became the country's biggest selling recreational vehicle.

The masterstroke was that Ford made the Territory available in two configurations: rear-drive and four-wheel-drive. Significantly, both models looked identical except for a discreet badge on the 4WD models and the rear-drive versions were $5000 cheaper than the 4WD variants, putting them within reach of buyers on a budget. Today, rear-drive models account for the majority of Territory sales. Polites was right: not everyone wanted to go off-road.

But he wasn't alone with this idea. About the same time as Ford Australia was working on the Territory project, Toyota, the biggest seller of 4WDs in Australia for the better part of 40 years, had come up with a concept of its own. Incredibly, both brands arrived at similar conclusions despite being unaware of what the rival was working on across the Pacific. In 2003 Toyota released its interpretation of the soft-roader theme: the Kluger.

Today, vehicles such as the Ford Territory and Toyota Kluger blend into the traffic as if they were always there. But they've only been around locally for a little over three years.

Holden watched this pair with interest - while it was busily working on a soft-roader with its Daewoo affiliate in Korea. To ensure it had some Australian flavour, Holden sent its chief designer, Michael Simcoe, to oversee the styling of the new model. Simcoe, best known as the man who designed the modern-day Monaro, was ultimately responsible for the shape of Holden's entrant in the mid-sized soft-roader market, the Captiva. Better late than never, it went on sale in October last year.

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Ford Territory, Holden Captiva and Toyota Kluger

[Quickening]

Great....Captiva got owned.

[Robert Ryan]

For a new vehicle it is not selling that well.

The Territory is still, however, the biggest seller among its mid-sized soft-roader peers. It outsells the Holden Captiva by two-to-one and the Kluger ranks a distant third. But that may be about to change

It was pretty neck to neck with Territory in the article. Maybe it has got something to do with the dreaded "D" word as well.....DAEWOO

[roteague]

I'm personally fond of the Territory, in fact, I have one reserved in September. I prefer it over the other two, although it is a bit dated. I have driven both the RWD and AWD, and frankly never noticed that one was a 6-speed and the other only a 4-speed.

[derrado]

Drive.com.au consistently irritates me. They're always so smarmy, their website layout is atrocious (especially for the news section), their reviews are oddly structured and uninvolving, and even though I am the last person to cry "anti-GM conspiracy", they do seem to love Toyota a lot. I have no doubt that the new Kluger/Highlander is a good car but I've read a fair bit on Drive and I know that they will applaud anything Toyota does and cry foul about Holden/Ford.

That being said, the Captiva isn't a particuarly good entry. It's a good car but it's not a Territory rival. It straddles segments and that is its biggest flaw. Moreover, the Territory needs a facelift. It's a fantastic, world-class car in every regard, but it's also hugely popular and once you see a car every day, it looks a little bit old (like the Mazda6, which I can't go anywhere without seeing).

[Greg Burr]

Kluger is the lamest name ever.

[TriShield]

I really think the Adventra and it's HSV variant were far superior vehicles to the the Captiva. The market voted otherwise and got this instead, looks like buyers still aren't satisfied.

The Territory is in need of a freshening. Hopefully it gets one similar to the Orion Falcon.

[vanshmack]

Originally Posted by Greg Burr

Kluger is the lamest name ever.

Word!

[Bravada]

Kluger is the lamest name ever.

It's the JDM name. "Kluger" means "more clever" (or so) in German, but I don't know if that's what Toyota went for. I actually think "Highlander" is a great name for an off-road vehicle, but I still abhorr this model in its current incarnation.

[roteague]

Originally Posted by TriShield

The Territory is in need of a freshening. Hopefully it gets one similar to the Orion Falcon.

Ford did update the interior (I'm not sure which year or trim, I saw it at last year's Sydney Auto Show), but you are right. The exterior is dated.

[Ytriox]

Originally Posted by JoeT

Simcoe, best known as the man who designed the modern-day Monaro...

He should probably leave that little tidbit off his resume, considering how unappealing that car's exterior was visually.

[Bravada]

Actually, the Monaro was a great-looking car. It was not laden with "features" as with most early 21st century vehicles trying to look "fresh", but the silhouette was impeccable.

If you want a visually unappealing car, check out the current Malibu, the new Ford 500 (aka "Taurus"), Lincoln MKZ, Chrysler Sebring or even this Ford Territory here, visibly pregnant - I guess it is about to give birth to the new Ford Ka (hopefully it will not resemble its mother too much)...

[nota]

Captiva isn't a bad effort visually. Apart from the reasonably ok Mitsu Outlander there is very little in the way of visual allure to any of the japanese offerings. Just a typically mishmashed confusion of lines and styling cues. As for the euros, the BMWs are overbaked, the Volvos are just ugly and I cannot believe how hideous that Audi A7 is

Imo the Territory is still cleaner and overall more handsome than almost all of its softroad competitors, at least to my eyes and in the metal if not in pictures

[Bravada]

I totally disagree - BMWs are almost perfect in being non-off-road SUVs and BMW is surprisingly the brand who has translated its design language into SUVs, which seemed totally impossible and improper for this particular automaker. Volvo has only made one SUV as of now, and I think it came out pretty well - it is quite neato, both in pics and in person. As concerns the Japanese, Mazda CX-7 also makes a good impression IMHO, though the Outlander definitely comes as a frontrunner (also in the Citroen guise).

Of course, there is a good deal of bad SUVs The Q7 is monstrously ugly, the Honda/Acura MDX is a gross misunderstanding, the Kluger/Highlander had some really ugly accident during its latest facelifting procedure, the Harrier/RX is alien, the Pug 4007 is just as bad a conversion as its cousin is a good one.

[Porkfriedrice]

did anyone notice this guy talked about a special developed Kluger made for this market is actually just a highlander?