LA MOTOR SHOW: No chink in Ford Edge armour
Ford execs resolutely tight-lipped on Aussie SUV future.Nobody wearing a Blue Oval badge was giving anything away at today’s opening of the Los Angeles Auto Show.
With the star of the Ford stand, the new Edge crossover ‘concept’ attracting attention from Aussie and other scribes, the shutters were firmly down in Ford-ville.
Edge is ideally sized to replace Territory in the Australian market after local production stops in 2016. Although the car does not offer a seven-seat variant, its car-like proportions will likely be a winner in a market that’s in love with vehicles like BMW’s X5 and Subaru's Forester. And anyway, the role of the seven-seater trickster and heavy duty towing and offroading could arguably be filled by the upcoming Ranger-based Everest.
As a duo, the cars could prove an extremely attractive combination, selling alongside Kuga and EcoSport as one of the most up-to-date affordable SUV range offers in the business.
But if that’s the plan, nobody is saying. Or even hinting...
Former President of Ford Asia Pacific & Africa and now Ford’s President of the Americas Joe Hinrichs didn’t run for cover when he spotted motoring.com.au’s scribe but that’s only because the cover was too far away.
“We’re not talking about Australia. We’re not talking about when Edge is going on sale [in the USA],” Hinrichs blocked.
“Yes, we’ve said it’s a global car. Yes, we’ve confirmed it’s going to Europe. No, we’re not saying whether that does or doesn’t include England,” he side-stepped when the thorny right-hand drive production avenue was explored.
motoring.com.au’s Todd Hallenbeck also worked the Ford stand hard, but even former Ford Australia faces were running for cover.
It’s highly unlikely Ford has not finalised its SUV plans post-Territory. With the larger Explorer still some time off renewal and little prospect of right-hand drive production in this generation, that’s not an avenue many are looking down...
Frankly, there seems to be little to be gained by not at least signalling the direction Ford is taking with SUVs in markets like Australia. After all, we all know Territory gets the chop in 2016.
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