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Equator Sport has been around since 2021 despite only having gone on-sale in South Africa last year with the revived Territory moniker.
Compared to the Equator Sport, the revised Territory will small exterior differences for Brazil. Image: Ford Brazil
Unveiled in its home market of China last year, Ford has debuted the facelift Equator Sport in Brazil as the market’s first take on the second generation Territory made in the People’s Republic.
Until now sold in the South American nation as the controversial Yusheng S330 made the Blue Oval’s Chinese partner, JMC – which attracted backlash from JLR for resembling the Range Rover Evoque – the revised Equator Sport/Territory will officially go on-sale in July with Brazil being the first country outside China to receive it.
Smallest engine likely
While Ford Brazil’s website doesn’t mention any price or specification details, expectations are that the Territory will use the same powertrain as the Equator Sport, namely the 1.5 EcoBoost mated to a seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox.
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Producing 125kW/280Nm, the unit is, therefore, in contrast to the more powerful 1.8 that makes 140kW/320Nm in the Middle East, but detuned to 138kW/318Nm in South Africa due to our poor fuel quality.
What’s new?
Aesthetically, the Territory has been changed subtly from the Equator Sport in that the black grille sports silver studding while the inner sections below the lights have been colour coded instead of matching the grille’s black finish.
Also slimmer is the L-shaped cut-in underneath the light cluster and the graphics for the taillight clusters.
Elsewhere, the Territory is unchanged from the Equator Sport as it gets the new almost boomerang-shaped LED front clusters, the new grille and lower air intake, redesigned bumpers and what appears to be the same 20-inch alloy wheels.
Inside, no changes have seemingly taken place from the pre-facelift Equator Sport/Territory.
Not yet for South Africa
Set to be fully detailed at a later stage, the arrival of the facelift Territory in Brazil has so far not translated into a date of arrival for South Africa, where long overdue replacement for the Kuga officially went on-sale towards the end of March last year.
Despite the introduction of the limited run Black Edition last month, don’t be surprised if a formal announcement confirming the facelift Territory for South Africa is made before the end of the year.
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