Ford Edge in China, but will it sell?
Let’s be honest here, overly American styled cars have never sold well in China, we just need to look at sales of the Chrysler Sebring, the Dodge Caliber and just about everything else from Americas automotive empire, aside from the Jeep Cherokee of course, and to a lesser extent the 300C. The Ford Edge has plenty of American styling, its massive bold chrome grill screams ‘USA‘, and obviously fits in well with the rest of the US Ford line up, but it appears to be a fish out of water against the Ford China line up, which by default is the Euro line up and is made up of non flashy, slimline motors that look more funky than bling bling.
Also it appears that the Edge cant really make up its mind as to what it actually is, is it an SUV, or is it a wagon, or is it a hatchback? It appears to be an SUV come wagon come hatchback, but with the ground clearance of a pensioners mobility scooter.
The interior appears to be the best thing about the Edge, its relatively luxurious and feels fairly well made. There are plenty of cup holders and lots of storage space. The Sony stereo interface is probably the best of I have personally seen so far in a mass made automobile.
The Chinese do like ‘showy’ vehicles, they also like their chrome, but the Edge might just be a bit too showy, and a bit too chromed up for the Chinese domestic market. However, it is does fill the gap in the line up in Ford China’s SUV segment, which is an area that Ford have so far failed to exploit with a domestically made vehicle as of yet.
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Its a Crossover rather than an SUV
One of the most biased articles that has been on this site in awhile. There is a Chery with a similar grill and the Subaru SUV also has a similar grill now. Most of the small SUVs now have an identity problem with being an SUV or wagon. What was the point of this article?
The point is that it soon will be the black sheep of the Ford China family. It would have been better to focus on building the Ford Kuga SUV locally than importing this, although they might well do this at some point.
The majority of cars that haven’t undergone a localization tend to perform poorly sales wise (i.e. MG7 V’s Roewe 750, Renaults,), and cars that have undergone heavy localization sell exceptionally well (VW Lavida, Bora etc)
On a personal note, I quite liked the Edge with the regular wheels (not the chromed ones), I’d consider buying one of those in a few years time, although the Dodge JCUV looks quite nice too.
I haven’t been following the Ford US lineup lately, but this Edge seems to have the “bling” that would appeal to Chinese buyers. I suspect they will try to market this really upmarket here (like the Buick Enclave).
That said, I’d really like to see the Kuga here as well. It could slot in beneath the Edge as Ford’s non-luxury SUV, even though this may look strange in the rest of the world.
Just saw this article. It’s great news! In fact, I’ve been hoping to buy a new 2011 Ford Edge Sport here in China in the near future.
I think the new Edge is going to be a great crossover. I’m particularly excited by the Sport model. (Hope we can get that option here in China.)
I must confess that I’m not a big fan of the big chrome grill, but I can live with it. Interestingly, in other photos I’ve seen of the upcoming Sport model, the chrome is blacked out. (See the second link.) Either way, I think it looks best in blue.
http://www.autoblog.com/2010/03/17/2011-ford-edge-sport-first-ride-exclusive/
http://www.autoblog.com/2010/02/10/2011-ford-edge-gets-three-engine-choices-more-ambitious-sport-m/
BTW, the Kuga should be marketed in China too. I agree that it’d probably be a better seller here. Personally, while I think the Kuga is a good-looking vehicle, I still prefer the Edge. Maybe it my American bias. Haha.