Ford Will Market Long-Wheelbase Edge In China

by Derek Kreindler

June 26th, 2014 9:34 AM

ford will market long wheelbase edge in china

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.

#2015FordEdge #China #Crossover #Cuv #Ford #FordEdge #LongWheelbase

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11 of 17 comments

Dwford on Jun 26, 2014

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.

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- Bball40dtw on Jun 26, 2014
  
  The Germans do it with their SUVs. Well, BMW and Mercedes.
  
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28-Cars-Later on Jun 26, 2014

"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?

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- Tuffjuff on Jun 26, 2014
  
  The unfortunate part, for the unbrainwashed Chinese is that their domestic market - the Chinese brands -are largely shit.
  
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- 28-Cars-Later on Jun 26, 2014
  
  @tuffjuff 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.
  
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- CRConrad on Jun 27, 2014
  
  @tuffjuff Wow, doesn't sound familiar at all.
  
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VoGo on Jun 26, 2014

If Ford engineers a LWB Edge, then it might make the basis for a nice livery vehicle for Lincoln here in the US.

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- Drzhivago138 on Jun 26, 2014
  
  Oh, you don't care for the MKT hearse?
  
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- Bball40dtw on Jun 26, 2014
  
  @Drzhivago138 I wonder if my wife will let me paint her MKT like Gravedigger.
  
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Brianyates on Jun 26, 2014

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.

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- Drzhivago138 on Jun 26, 2014
  
  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.
  
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