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Ford Edge To Be Replaced In Europe By Seven-Seat Kuga


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4 hours ago, jpd80 said:

My latest Intel says most likely Explorer even if only in LHD, sad to say that I think Ford is losing interest in RHD markets.

Euro/ROW Edge/ Endura was launched with only 2,0 diesel, no 2.0 EB, no hybrid when available on CD4, why no hybrid for Europe ROW?

Ford needs to get with the program fast, the big failing with One Ford was that it was all about USA, and too slow, years late everywhere else.

There's no Edge hybrid anywhere.

2 hours ago, theoldwizard said:

Replacing the Edge in the US, with even a stretched Kuga would be a mistake !  It is not just length, it is width.  When we bought our Edge, we seriously considered an Escape.  Not enough "hip" room.  You felt like you were almost sitting on top of the other front seat passenger.  The current Edge seats 4 "full size" adults very comfortably.

Also, adding 2 more seats ?  Why ?  Only kids under 12 would fit.

We're not talking about the US.

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8 hours ago, ausrutherford said:

Well that does not make much sense.

 

As for the Kuga 7-seat replacing the Edge. That does not make sense.

The Kuga 7-seater will be replacing the Grand C-Max. 

 

Now the question is what replaces the S-Max/Galaxy...

I don't think "replace" is the right word. Edge is just being discontinued.

I think the 7 seat Ford Kuga is going to be quite big... probably the same size as VW Tiguan Allspace or Skoda Kodiaq. We know how much Ford Europe like to copy VW so I think that is the route they will go... stretch out the Kuga to the point it crosses over into the D-segment. And a vehicle like that will effectively replace S-Max too. Keep an eye on P758 project in Mexico (the C2 pickup truck)... it was supposed to have a companion CUV, which if you assume will share the wheelbase and footprint of the pickup truck (roughly same length as Transit Connect van) will result in a nicely porportioned 7-seat CUV based on the C2 platform.

And I believe Ford will introduce 7 seat Explorer in Europe for those looking for even more room.

Ultimately, I think this development adds more credibility to those that claims Edge will switch to CD6 and RWD/longitude drivetrain. Once Ford introduces Explorer and 7-seat Kuga in China, it will more or less eliminate the need for 7 seat Edge there. So Ford will make the next gen Edge more like a 5-seat/coupe version of Explorer.

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I think we're seeing the beginnings of a 3 or 4 tiered Ford. Euro / ROW, US / Canada, Developing nations, and China. I for one don't mind the idea of Ford Oz getting the Euro models - they tend to handle, ride, drive more to Oz tastes than the US vehicles. If anything, they've always been a little underpowered though. Edge (Endura) is a waste of space here. Wrong engine and wrong seating capacity. A 7 seat Escape will sell much better if priced correctly with the right engine. 

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C-Max wheelbase: 2,648mm / 104.3"

Escape (current gen) wheelbase: 2,690mm / 105.9"

Grand C-Max wheelbase: 2,788mm / 109.8"

"Grand Escape" wheelbase: ??? but let say longer than current Grand C-Max

Edge/S-Max/Galaxy wheelbase: 2,850mm / 112.2"

Explorer wheelbase: 3,030 mm / 119.1"

So you can kind of see the logic here for Ford... they think buyers in Europe that wants a SUV bigger than 5 seat Kuga will want 7 seats because they are coming out of minivans for the most part. And remember the current Edge shares everything with S-Max and Mondeo... including the wheelbase. So if you can stretch a C2 into 112" wheelbase, it doesn't really matter if the car is called "Edge" or "Kuga" because it will have 7 seats and shaped like an SUV... something Ford Europe has not sold before. And in case you are wondering if that is feasible... just remember that Transit Connect already has a longer wheelbase than Edge so C1 (and C2 by default) is able to handle that kind of stretch. And for people that want a really big SUV, Ford is going to bring the Explorer which will be better positioned against the luxury brand offerings in terms of value.

 

So the VW line up where Ford gets inspirations from shows their thinking.

For comparison purpose to VW:

Golf Sportvan wheelbase: 2,637mm / 103.8" (comparable to C-Max)

Tiguan SWB: 2,681mm / 105.6" (comparable to Escape)

Touran wheelbase: 2,791mm / 109.9" (comparable to Grand C-Max)

Tiguan LWB: 2,791mm / 109.9" (comparable to Escape 7 seat LWB)

Touareg wheelbase: 2,904mm / 114.3" (comparable to Edge/Explorer)

Sharan wheelbase: 2,919mm / 114.9" (comparable to S-Max or Galaxy)

 

 

 

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4 hours ago, bzcat said:

Keep an eye on P758 project in Mexico (the C2 pickup truck)... it was supposed to have a companion CUV, which if you assume will share the wheelbase and footprint of the pickup truck (roughly same length as Transit Connect van) will result in a nicely porportioned 7-seat CUV based on the C2 platform.

Why would there be a need for a separate plant to build LWB Kugas/Escapes in Noth America or even Europe? They could be built of the same line as the Escape and Kuga.

My impression was Mexico would get a smaller C based product-the Maverick and the Model E and also get the Ecosport replacement for NA/EU.  The C2 pickup would share its line with the Transit Connect for NA. 

Still not 100% sure North America needs three-four different C class products. 

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3 minutes ago, silvrsvt said:

Why would there be a need for a separate plant to build LWB Kugas/Escapes in Noth America or even Europe? They could be built of the same line as the Escape and Kuga.

My impression was Mexico would get a smaller C based product-the Maverick and the Model E and also get the Ecosport replacement for NA/EU.  The C2 pickup would share its line with the Transit Connect for NA. 

Still not 100% sure North America needs three-four different C class products. 

In Europe, there is no need for a separate plant. They could either build it with Focus (replacing the volume left behind by Grand C-Max at Saarlouis), or with Kuga (replacing the volume left behind by Mondeo/S-Max/Galaxy at Valencia) or import it from Mexico.

In North America, we talked about this before... If Ford really believes in the "SUV all the things" plan, it will need multiple products of similar sizes to cater to different market niches. Ford currently has two C-class utilities... C-Max and Escape (yes, C-Max is classified as a car by EPA but I would characterize that as a mistake by Ford). We will soon have two C-class utilities... Maverick and Escape. If one of them has an alternate bodystyle that seats 7, does that make for three utilities? Do we count Focus sedan and hatch as two different C-class cars?

Maverick - rugged C-utility

Escape - mainstream C-utility

MACH-E - EV C-utility

TBD - 7 seat C-utility (we had previously assumed it will just be called Escape but maybe not)

 

 

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