Comments on: The customer knows best: Ford takes advice on MKX, Edge

By: avlight

avlight — Sat, 25 Nov 2006 19:48:35 +0000

The problem is that Ford is going back into paradigmed engineering all over again where one successful front end is going on every Ford.

Anyone remember the Taurus…. Then it was the Escort (mini-taurus), the first two years of the Crown Vic (maxi-taurus), the first restyled curvy F-150′s (truck-de-taurus) and the mustang (sport de taurus) before the current styling.

Now it appears that the pattern is coming again with the Fusion, the Edge (crossover Fusion), the Expedition (SUV fusion), even the spyshots of the next F-150 had a very similar grille that looks more like the vent louvers from a old high-school gym locker

By: beerme

beerme — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 05:38:34 +0000

“The best thing about ice-cream trucks is that song they constantly play out of the speakers mounted on the roof to attract the kids.

Comment by Thomas, posted on November22 at 12:46 am ”

That’s a scary comment . . .

By: TomF

TomF — Thu, 23 Nov 2006 06:11:19 +0000

It looks like they benchmarked the Edge against current-generation quasi-crossovers like the Highlander and Murano. Problem is those vehicles are at the end of their lives just as the Edge launches. The thing is obsolete overnight against the new Mazda and maybe even the upcoming Enclave/Acadia/etc. Car and Driver already slammed it for being too heavy, slow, expensive and dull. It’s dead before its birth. Stupid Ford.

By: MM

MM — Wed, 22 Nov 2006 21:13:55 +0000

http://www.geocities.com/lucath/maxim2.html?200623

check this out

By: British_Rover

British_Rover — Wed, 22 Nov 2006 13:50:09 +0000

^^^ That actually would not be a bad idea. Maybe keep the Fusion too as it seems to be a good vehicle.

Bring the Mondeo over in wagon form only.

By: pezones

pezones — Wed, 22 Nov 2006 12:28:47 +0000

ford needs to be ‘saturnised’
get rid of the us lineup except fpr the mustang, and f-series, and brind EVERYTHING else over from euro ford.

By: John Landers

John Landers — Wed, 22 Nov 2006 08:09:12 +0000

Edmunds.com and Car and Driver already gave the Edge crap reviews.
The Edge handles like a slob, only has 2 rows, weighs as much as a body on frame SUV, gets 15 mpg, and costs as much as 3-row SUVs.

With Ford forgetting simple cosmetic things like a mesh grille, we can see how far behind the times Ford’s design teams are. They are out of touch.

By: Thomas

Thomas — Wed, 22 Nov 2006 05:46:23 +0000

The best thing about ice-cream trucks is that song they constantly play out of the speakers mounted on the roof to attract the kids.

By: VDuv Kux Klan

VDuv Kux Klan — Wed, 22 Nov 2006 03:25:57 +0000

LoL they need a former from Toyota to make good cars, lol so hilarious

By: chuckles

chuckles — Wed, 22 Nov 2006 02:30:34 +0000

Richard – Ford built pre-production models for consumers and employees to test before they started regular production to have them test and evaluate anything that could be improved before they built and delivered it to the general public. That is why you saw one on the road.
deantj – morons like you should be banned from posting by LLN.

By: Richard

Richard — Wed, 22 Nov 2006 02:06:05 +0000

If Ford has delayed the launch of the Edge, then why did I see one on the freeway yesterday?

By: Impulsive

Impulsive — Wed, 22 Nov 2006 01:08:11 +0000

These clowns obviously have no clue how to design and build a vehicle which is why they are where they are.

“… more than 70 significant issues and hundreds of minor concerns that could affect the vehicle’s reliability”.

Abject FAILURE. Time to clean house.

By: ttspeedo

ttspeedo — Wed, 22 Nov 2006 01:04:36 +0000

I was talking about taking the customer input. Customers being the ‘outsiders’.
Same applies to Chrysler–do they really need someone to tell them that the sharp edges from the casting mold need to smoothed off before they make it a prominent part of the new Sebring center stack?

By: psiclone

psiclone — Tue, 21 Nov 2006 23:34:14 +0000

i agree with chuckles. and although ive never been particularly fond of fords, i think this is a good sign. it shows ford is attempting to sell vehicles based on a desirable product rather than rebates. this encourages industry competition and benefits for the buyer… us.

By: chuckles

chuckles — Tue, 21 Nov 2006 22:45:21 +0000

ttspeedo – She’s not an outsider, she now works for Ford, where have you been? Ford only wants a flawless launch on this like when they released the new F150 and Fusion. Releasing the Fusion when it was ready is now starting to pay off with it being rated higher by Consumer Reports than Camry and Accord. Waiting a couple weeks to ship instead of the typical “get it out the door” is a sign of change for the mfg. Toyota delayed shipping the current Corolla for almost a year and nothing was said, Ford delays for a couple weeks and the sky is falling. The glass isn’t always half-empty.

By: Thomas

Thomas — Tue, 21 Nov 2006 21:04:09 +0000

… can’t help but wonder what those “functional changes” were.

By: LamborghiniZ

LamborghiniZ — Tue, 21 Nov 2006 21:02:18 +0000

*I mean to put “dud”, not “dude”, just for clarification

By: LamborghiniZ

LamborghiniZ — Tue, 21 Nov 2006 21:01:47 +0000

They have a ton to address, and they won’t fix all that needs fixing, like the thrashy V6, the transmission that hunts for gears like none other, the terrible performance, etc. The Edge is a dude, and the MKX is a cloned dud.

By: moogleii

moogleii — Tue, 21 Nov 2006 20:08:26 +0000

“I agree with “ttspeedo”, why is the company so lost?”

Bad leadership. When a company as large as Ford starts doing things day to day a certain way for an extended period of time, it takes awhile to change things, even if the old way is not the best way.

By: pezones

pezones — Tue, 21 Nov 2006 19:56:20 +0000

per edmunds:

At a crossroads
We began this test with high hopes from the handsome newcomer. Ford needs this vehicle. Ford wants you to want this vehicle. But it’s hard to make a compelling argument for the Edge when compared to traditionally styled stalwarts like the Honda Pilot, Toyota Highlander, or even Ford’s own Explorer. Size, price and capabilities of the Edge are, at best, on par with those vehicles.

It gets even harder to defend the Edge when it’s compared to the Hyundai Santa Fe, Mazda CX-7 or Toyota RAV4. Each is less expensive, more fun to drive and generally more fuel-efficient.

Although we like Ford’s newest crossover, the edgiest thing about it turns out to be its name.

By: bacalao

bacalao — Tue, 21 Nov 2006 19:47:31 +0000

Good they better totally facelift the dman mkx it looks uglier than any other vechicle out there it has to be one of the most horrendous and atrocious cars i have laid eyes upon. The grill is abominable

By: Impulsive

Impulsive — Tue, 21 Nov 2006 19:37:19 +0000

I agree with “ttspeedo”, why is the company so lost?

One might view the development of the Edge as Ford’s first foray into the market, like the Chinese. I’m not against the success of the company or this vehicle but this is all seems like one big joke.

By: F451

F451 — Tue, 21 Nov 2006 19:36:45 +0000

In took eons for GM to listen to its Corvette owners and they only finally listen with the advent of the C5. Now look at the Corvette, it is much better because of enthusiasts and owners.

By: ttspeedo

ttspeedo — Tue, 21 Nov 2006 19:31:32 +0000

Why does it take an outsider to point out such basic ‘fixes’???

By: A4

A4 — Tue, 21 Nov 2006 19:12:48 +0000

twin turbo would be badass…
its great to see how much attention to detail they are giving.. but make sure you get it to market before it looks stale, ford.

By: Egbert Souse

Egbert Souse — Tue, 21 Nov 2006 19:01:00 +0000

Hopefully they listened to me when I specified to make a twin turbo (or single turbo) V6 MKX

By: theshadow

theshadow — Tue, 21 Nov 2006 18:43:19 +0000

The amount of effort they’re putting into the EDGE is a very encouraging sign, and indeed the EDGE seems pretty nice, in a very ‘middle of the road” sort of way – probably won’t offend anyone. And if it turns out to be well built and reliable that can’t hurt either. Seems Ford is following the Camry recipe to the letter.

But all the fuss and hype over the EDGE just seems to undeline how heavily Ford’s fortunes depend on the success of this car, which is kind of scary; no matter how well they build it, they had better hope that the whole crossover thing isn’t just a huge 1 or 2 year fad. Also, the EDGE had better have some serious EDGEiness to it – I’d wager that crossover buyers are a little bit more image-and-trend-conscious than midsize sedan buyers are.

Hope I’m wrong!

By: Bush

Bush — Tue, 21 Nov 2006 18:30:28 +0000

Good for them. A good attitude can make a real difference with customers (and potential customers) in the long run.