Ford likes to claim that the Everest SUV is not a Ranger ute with a different back end, but they shouldn’t really bother, because all the things that make the Ranger brilliant also make the Everest brilliant.
It is powerful, refined, extremely comfortable, has a fantastic engine and transmission and, most of all, looks like a big, tough truck. And that is what people want when they buy something like this.
Though the Everest is handsome and traditionally capable, it is also packed with high-tech features that entertain, assist and, most importantly, keep you safe, whether on or off the sealed roads.
Everest is aimed squarely at the Toyota Prado and easily outdoes the Prado in every aspect, particularly in handling and performance.
But it is the Everest’s supreme ability to be fantastically composed and unflappable on literally any surface, be it on or off road, is what makes it COTY winner material. Well, that and the fact it looks like a big, tough truck ...