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Our friends at Autos.ca are reporting that China will get a long-wheelbase version of the 2015 Ford Edge.
According to the site, the Edge will get longer rear doors, while retaining much of the same sheetmetal. The Edge will be built in Oakville, Ontario for global markets, but due to China’s restrictive tariffs on imported cars, there will presumably be a Chinese assembly site as well.
Long-wheelbase versions of sedans are highly popular with Chinese consumers, who value rear passenger space as an attribute of luxury vehicles. Being driven by a chauffeur is also a sign of wealth among affluent Chinese consumers, and a long-wheelbase crossover neatly capitalizes on these trends.
17 Comments on “Ford Will Market Long-Wheelbase Edge In China...”
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Isn’t a LWB Edge soon going to be called the Explorer? I guess its more complicated than that, but once the D-platform CUVs switch over to the CD4 platform, the Edge and Explorer will be closer siblings.
Not if it is 5 passenger only. These LWB models are a China peculiarity. It’s nice to see the US manufacturers take the market seriously finally.
Well yank the third row out of an Explorer, and its just an Explorer without a third row. I’m sure this LWB Edge will have a unique wheelbase though. The current Fusion and Explorer actually have about the same wheelbase. So the new Edge will be in that same area as well. Ford would have to stretch it to Flex or MKT levels. I would actually like a five passenger vehicle like that.
The problem with an Explorer is the second row is fixed, and pretty cramped (which is how they fit in a third row) so it’s not a pleasant place to be.
Which is another reason to buy a Flex or MkT over an Explorer. I don’t find the 2nd row of the Explorer terrible (I’m 6’4″), but I’ve only ever had to be back there for 45 minutes or so. I will always pick the other Ford D-platform CUVs though. They are both much nicer places to be.
I’m Bball’s height now, but last year, I was two or three inches shorter, and we took a trip to DC in my mom’s RAV4. I enjoyed visiting people, and the space museum simulator, but the ride itself, a different story.
The backseat has the potential to be roomy, but the window switches jut out at your knees, and are not soft at all, while the front seatbacks aren’t the seat material; instead, they’re some solid pad with a curve that sticks out, which my knees are above.
As long as the seatbacks are plush and I can push my knees in, I’m fine. This is how the fixed rear seat of the Rogue doesn’t bother me.
I know that Ford exports it’s US models all over the world, but I can’t recall many being exported to Europe like the Edge will. Is Ford the first to export North American built vehicles back to Europe? I mean in a serious way, not like Cadillac.
The Germans do it with their SUVs. Well, BMW and Mercedes.
“but due to China’s restrictive tariffs on imported cars, there will presumably be a Chinese assembly site as well.”
Tarrifs to protect a country’s industry, what are those?
The unfortunate part, for the unbrainwashed Chinese is that their domestic market – the Chinese brands -are largely shit.
From what I read, PRC imposes such tarrifs in order to get foreign companies to initiate China-only corporations in which the gov’t/party automatically gets 50% ownership.
Wow, doesn’t sound familiar at all.
If Ford engineers a LWB Edge, then it might make the basis for a nice livery vehicle for Lincoln here in the US.
Oh, you don’t care for the MKT hearse?
I wonder if my wife will let me paint her MKT like Gravedigger.
I believe Ford did try to sell the Explorer in Europe and in England in the late 90’s, they didn’t sell well at all, partly due to their propensity ro roll over, frequently.
Every SUV has a higher propensity for rollover, particularly if driven by those who have no prior experience with one. (as many were in the late 90’s). Explorers were no more likely than any other SUV.
I have a feeling the Explorer’s lack of success in Europe, same as most other American SUVs, was more due to its poor fuel economy compared to its size (wagons were/are much more efficient, particularly when off-road chops are unneccesary) rather than any rollover risk.
And the new Explorer is a crossover, essentially a wagon with slightly higher ground clearance. Significantly wider and lower than the 2010 SUV explorer.