In the footsteps of Bronco Sport: Ford Edge will have all-wheel drive
The car of the American brand during the change of the model year will lose front-wheel drive versions.
Sales of the Ford brand in the home market have been declining since 2016, the most noticeable drop was recorded following the results of the “covid” 2020. Then dealers sold 1,929,298 cars in the US, which is 15.9% less than a year earlier. Despite the positive trend in the car market as a whole, Ford has not yet managed to raise the result this year: according to Carsalesbase, in January-July 2021, customers bought 1,055,727 units, which is 1% less than a year earlier.
In the photo: the current version of the Ford Edge crossover
Ford launched the Edge mid-size crossover in 2006, the current second generation of the model appeared in 2015, and it went through a restyling in 2019. Note that the Ford Edge also fell during the crisis of 2020 in the United States: a total of 108,886 cars were sold, which is 21.4% less than a year earlier. This year, this car still has a “minus”: in January-July, the crossover sold 42,704 copies (27.1% less than in the first seven months of 2020).
According to the Ford Authority, the Edge of the next model year (2022) will have a very unexpected “new thing”: they plan to deprive the car of front-wheel drive versions. So the car will already be available in the standard version exclusively with the Intelligent All-Wheel Drive (AWD) all-wheel drive system. Note that last year's novelty, the Ford Bronco Sport crossover, is also exclusively sold with all-wheel drive.
Obviously, this will entail an increase in the price tag of the model. Judging by the official website of the brand in the United States, now the only version of Edge with all-wheel drive in the base is the ST, its price starts at $43,600 (equivalent to about 3.25 million conventional units at the current rate). For everyone else, including the initial version of the SE, the AWD system is only for a surcharge. For him, the Americans have to pay at least 32,750 dollars (about 2.44 million conventional units).
It is worth noting that the model has already been noticeably updated for the 2021 model year. So, the crossover received new body colors, as well as rims of a different design. In addition, this crossover already has a 12-inch touchscreen of the Sync 4A infotainment system in the standard version (the previous version had a screen diagonal of 8 inches, and the system was Sync 3). Also in the cabin there are more USB connectors (now four), as well as a new upholstery color.
Recently it became known that Ford has updated the Explorer ST for 2022. At the same time, here the “charged” version of the model, on the contrary, was made the base rear-wheel drive, and the all-wheel drive system remained as an option. This is probably how the manufacturer reduced the price tag of the “hot” Explorer. Note that this model is doing better in the US market: for example, in 2020, customers bought 226,217 cars (22.5% more than a year earlier), and in January-July of this year, the car sold 131,592 cars. (10.3% more than in the first seven months of 2020).
Recall that recently Ford brand cars are no longer represented: the American brand left our market back in 2019. Now the logo in the form of a recognizable “blue oval” is available only on Transit commercial vehicles that go off the assembly line of the plant located in Tatarstan.