FORD'S Everest: a quality SUV, space for seven, desirable looks… but there's a but.   

Since its Australian arrival in 2015, the thorn in the Everest's side has been its price.

With a before-on-road-costs entry fee of $54,990 for the Everest Ambiente four-wheel drive, which is best described as skinny on included specification, shoppers have to look to the 4x4 Trend version at $60,990 or loaded 4x4 Titanium trim (for a chunky $76,705) to get the features demanded by many in the segment.  

Ford's answer this month? Introduce a rear-wheel drive Everest Trend for $55,990 ($5000 less than the Trend four-wheel drive) to try to snare some more sales.   

With the only off-road excursions of many Everests likely to be up the kerb at the school gates, a two-wheel drive option will be perfect for urban-use buyers, not least because in Trend guise you score decent standard spec.   

There's an eight-inch touchscreen with tablet-esque "pinch and swipe", Apple CarPlay and Android Auto integration and Australian accent-specific calibration voice recognition as part of Ford's excellent SYNC 3 communication and entertainment system.  

Ford has sold 3260 Everests year-to-date according to latest sales figures. The brand has sold twice as many of its Territory models (priced from $38,490 to $57,740) in the same period, while Everest has been outsold by rival ute-based, large seven-seat SUVs like Toyota's Fortuner (from $47,990), Mitsubishi's Pajero Sport (from $48,500) and Isuzu Ute MU-X (from $40,500). Toyota's Prado - which Ford sees as a key Everest rival - has sold upwards of 10,000 more units in 2016. It starts from $54,050 before on-roads.  

The new two-wheel drive Everest uses the same 3.2-litre, five-cylinder, turbo-diesel engine and six-speed auto transmission as the rest of the range, but losing the weight of the four- wheel drive hardware (a saving of nearly 100kg) means fuel economy is down 0.1L/100km to 8.4L/100km.

Further good news is the SUV's 3000kg towing capability remains, as does its 225mm ground clearance, 800mm wading depth and its four-wheel drive tyres.  

The new rear-wheel drive Everest is on sale now.  

The Great Escape..?

Ford has also launched its 2017 Escape mid-sized SUV, including a front-wheel drive 1.5-litre Trend variant.  

When compared with the outgoing Ford Kuga, the Escape starts at a sharper $28,490 (before on-roads) for the entry-level Ambiente model, while there's a choice of 1.5-litre and 2.0-litre EcoBoost engines.  

As with the new Everest, Ford's impressive SYNC 3 communications and entertainment system comes as standard.