Yee-haw!! Mom's apple pie! Coca Cola! There's no crying in baseball! God bless 'Merica!
What's all this about?
Well, Ford is launching a new SUV at the Frankfurt Motor Show, the Edge. So I'm coming over all 'Merican. Give me liberty or give me death!
Er, not quite. You see Ford is launching the Edge in Frankfurt, right enough, but it's the European version you see.
Ah. So, no big V8 then?
No, you'll get a choice of two 2.0-litre diesels - one with 180hp and a six-speed manual, the second a twin-turbo 210hp version with Ford's Powershift automatic.
What about a gun-rack?
No, you won't get that either. But you will get an advanced all-wheel drive system than can work out which set of wheels needs more grunt in just 16 milliseconds. You will get an active noise cancelling system to keep the cabin nice and quiet. You will get pre-collision assistance and pedestrian avoidance braking systems. You'll get adaptive steering and a bumper camera that helps you see out in tight junctions - plus all the usual big touchscreen and phone connection refinements. It even has very un-American CO2 emissions - as low as 149g/km depending on the model.
Oh, I see. So not very American at all then?
No, but the car market is starting to look more and more American. Ford commissioned a survey, which says that those aged between 17-34 basically want an SUV, and nothing else. Hence the introduction of the Edge, plus some updates coming down the line for the Kuga and EcoSport. More so than other age groups, Millennials say SUVs make them feel powerful when they drive, are the kind of vehicle they want to be seen in and are more sporty and fun to drive than other vehicle types - according to top strategic research consultancy Benenson Strategy Group.
"The survey makes two important points - the SUV boom in Europe is not a passing fad and young people are not as ambivalent about car ownership as some suggest - especially when it comes to SUVs," said Roelant de Waard, Vice President, Marketing, Sales and Service, Ford of Europe. "For both rational and emotional reasons, many younger buyers in Europe see SUVs as the perfect choice for them."
So Ford is really gearing up for more SUV sales. It reckons that almost 30 per cent of its global sales will be SUVs by 2020, and around 200,000 of those, a year, will be sold in Europe. Ford says that SUVs, which currently account for around 20 per cent of all car sales in Europe, will grow to 27 per cent by 2020.
Zut alors! Gott in himmel! Mamma mia!
Now you're getting it...
Neil Briscoe - 10 Sep 2015