Autoexpress and the Western Morning News have both reported the unveiling of the Ford Edge in its European guise.
The Ford Edge is a very large vehicle, large as if to make up for Ford’s relatively low-key display at this year’s IAA. It is, I suppose a kind of interregnum. Martin Smith has handed over to his replacement who is probably busy with working out how things operate in Merkenich rather than with breaking new ground for EuroFords. There has also been a bit of personnel change, with exterior designer Stephan Lamm recently departed. Conceivably rising star Murat Gueler may return to Merkenich, having done some work at Lincoln in the interim.
We have here in the Edge a Europeanised version of a car familiar to US buyers. Quite what the differences are is hard to see: a chrome bezel, some under-bumper detailing and perhaps, more importantly, changes to the interior trim and colours. Ford’s US gold metallic is great though. We won’t get that.
Car and Driver consider the Edge to have bold styling. Edmunds like the ride quality and performance. A set of generally positive review summaries are here. The vehicle comes with two- and four wheel drive and engines from 2.0 litre four-cylinder to a turbo 2.7 V6 and a 3.5 litre petrol V6. Conceivably, the Edge is here to get some of the sales action going to vehicles like Audi Q5 and perhaps the Land Rover Evoque. The expected price is around £30,000 which where the Evoque takes off too. The Audi Q5 starts at £31,200. I expect the Ford Edge will have more features than equivalently priced competitors. The next question is, how will Opel respond?
Driven To Write 
You forgot the eternal Ford question at European motor show time: where is Chris Bird?
I had a look: there’s not much out there. He seems to be at colour and trim. The Vignale project is something he might be involved with.
The face of the 2015 Ford Edge looks very much like a Honda CR-V. I think it is rather a step backwards compared to the distinctive nose of his predecessor.
Not being a Crossover-fanatic i must say i really like the clean, massive but unaggressive design of the 2006 Ford Edge – Ford should have europeanised the Edge some years earlier…
Add any Hyundai SUV to the list of grille-a-like facsimiles for the Edge. It’s a very late, me-too design that does little more than plug a gap in the range. Suddenly, Ford does look in a bad place with its range with a number of key models that are either aging or just rather uninspiring.
That is better, isn’t it? The comments here warrant further analysis. How old is Ford’s range? Remind me to get back to this.
Of more concern for Ford Europe would be cash flow. With no significant product to roll out over the next year or so, their financial projection graphs must look like illustrations of the Rockies.
Is not the Ford Fiesta (which still looks not dated at all) old enough to deserve a successor soon?
On the other hand, there is nothing better for a car company than producing a car for a long period of time with a steady demand for it. Such cars are real cash cows!