Ford Talks More Details on 2015 Edge
When the 2015 Ford Edge goes on sale in spring 2015, it will start around the same price as the 2014 ($28,995) but swap the available engines. A turbocharged 2.0-liter EcoBoost four-cylinder will serve as the base engine, with a 3.5-liter V-6 optional, said Ford officials at a Midwest Automotive Media Association lunch on Friday. That’s the opposite of today’s 2014 Edge, which carries a standard V-6 and optional EcoBoost 2.0-liter.
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“You will pay more for the V-6,” Ford utilities spokesman Mark Schirmer said. “We’re going to try and steer people toward the 2.0-liter.”
But that isn’t the same 2.0-liter found in the outgoing Edge. The new EcoBoost four-cylinder employs a twin-scroll turbo and other refinements to make an estimated 245 horsepower and 270 pounds-feet of torque — up 5 hp with no change in torque versus the last 2.0-liter EcoBoost. The new 2.0-liter also accommodates up to 3,500 pounds of towing capacity when equipped as well as optional all-wheel drive, two things the last 2.0-liter Edge did not.
Meanwhile, the range-topping Edge Sport gets a new turbocharged 2.7-liter EcoBoost V-6 that Ford officials expect to have “torque power leadership” versus competing V-6s with similar mileage to the 2015 Edge’s midgrade engine, the 3.5-liter V-6. The 2014 Edge with a 3.5-liter V-6 gets an EPA-estimated 19/27/22 mpg city/highway/combined. Ford’s presentation suggested that competitive set includes the Honda Crosstour, Nissan Murano — also redesigned for 2015 — and Toyota Venza, but curiously not the Jeep Grand Cherokee.
Currently, Ford said about a third of Edge SUVs sold are Limited or Sport models; the remainder are SE or SEL trims. Cars.com’s new-car inventory currently lists approximately 12,000 2014 models, with the top trim levels accounting for just a quarter of the total.
The 2015 Edge has the same trim pyramid, save the Titanium in place of the Limited, and Ford’s Cristina Aquino expects the Titanium and Sport to account for a majority of sales for the 2015 Edge. Optional equipment will extend the 2015 Edge Titanium’s price higher than today’s Limited, which tops out in the high $40,000s.
We kicked the tires in a preproduction Edge Friday (pictured below), which we saw for the first time at its unveiling this year in June (pictured above). Gone are MyFord Touch’s touch-sensitive controls, perhaps the most vexing aspect in the current Edge. In their place are real buttons and knobs, which make the Edge the latest Ford/Lincoln product to ditch the technology.
“It’s fair” to say touch-sensitive buttons are in Ford’s rearview mirror, Schirmer said. “The full touch [sensitive interface] is moving away.”
So are the old Edge’s low-rent door materials, replaced by handsome padded veneers. And that isn’t cheap. Jogi Shetti, Ford’s global marketing launch manager, told reporters that padding along the upper doors, where your elbows might rest, could cost “five bucks, easy” versus a sheet of hard plastic. Multiply that by hundreds of thousands of vehicles in a model’s production cycle and, well, you get the idea.
The new Edge rides an all-new platform and weighs about 50 pounds less than its predecessor, officials told us. Aquino said to expect EPA gas mileage and full pricing in the fourth quarter this year. That starts next month, so stay tuned.
Cars.com photos by Aaron Bragman and Kelsey Mays
