Price tag takes this Ford past the Edge of reason
Ford’s new SUV is competent but way too expensive for what it is, writes Campbell Spray
THE dominance of the SUV seems to show no signs of abating. Cars seem to be going in one of two main ways — sleeker or chunkier. There’s very little room in the middle.
So it will be interesting to see how the new Toyota Corolla does next year as a pretty standard family saloon or hatchback, albeit with some nice styling tweaks, a lot of safety equipment and a good hybrid system which most owners are likely to go for.
For the moment, SUVs are cluttering my diary, the first of which will be mentioned this week. While my colleague Geraldine Herbert was taken to Morocco to try the new Citroen SUV, left, I was doing more mundane stuff. Although I hear that getting to North Africa and back was pretty arduous.
Anyway, I had the Ford Edge, which my daughter thought was the bee’s knees when I picked her up. She reckoned it was the sort of car that would be ideal for carting around celebrities. And the ST-Line model I was driving did come loaded with spec and some pretty good off-road ability, too. Unfortunately, it was also massively expensive.
While the entry price for the Ford Edge is €47,995, the test model was €59,490 before delivery and related charges would take it above €60k. There is no seven-seat option like many of its competitors and all Edges are 4WD with a 2.0 diesel engine which is pretty good, and would be more economical if it wasn’t always mated to the four wheels. It was a competent if rather lumbering drive without ever touching on being exciting. It has none of the fine confident road feel that differentiates Ford cars like the Fiesta, Focus and Mondeo from the herd.
However, the car is an immensely safe package to cushion your family and there is a seven-year warranty, the same length for roadside assistance and two years’ free servicing to numb the financial pain a bit.
It is a big car and if you want space for five and lots of luggage, it is all there for you. Americans gobble them up, with sales approaching 150,000, but I think they are a cheaper proposition there by a long shot.
Here, the Edge is up against some pretty competent rivals in both premium and non-premium sectors with the Hyundai Santa Fe and Peugeot 5008 really impressing.
It was good to have, and if it was cold and slippery outside, I would feel very protected, but it is really too expensive for what it is.