Ford Killed The Edge, But What Was Meant To Come Next Still Doesn't Exist

No, Ford did not kill the guitarist for U2, don't misunderstand the headline. And yes, Bono is safe too. Ford has removed the midsized crossover/SUV/CUV known as the Edge from its lineup, leaving a hole between the Escape and the Explorer. The webpage for the Ford Edge was turned into a bit of a makeshift memorial, and the eulogy FoMoCo posted invites you to "Open yourself up to new adventures while still holding onto the same features, performance, and style you loved in the Edge." Well, maybe if the Ford Edge ST had been sharper or cheaper, the Edge nameplate would still exist.

If Ford intended to leave this gap in its SUV lineup, that might be the end of the story. After all, Ford still makes Expeditions, Explorers, Mustang Mach-E's, Broncos, Escapes, and Bronco Sports (which are mostly Escapes underneath). So with all these options, was there really a place for the Edge to... edge its way in? There's a lot of crossover here. And a lot of crossovers.

Well, a replacement was supposed to be forthcoming, but months after the announcement of the Edge's demise, there's still no word. Ford announced a plan to invest $1.8 billion into its Oakville Assembly Complex in Canada back in 2023 (which had been assembling Edges) so it could start churning out three-row EV crossovers by 2025. In April 2024, Ford announced a delay of the EV updates to 2027. Then in May of 2025, Ford retooled the plant again, investing $2.3 billion in the same plant to produce Ford F-250 Super Duties instead. Unless Ford was planning on stuffing the Edge like a goose being prepared for foie gras, the massive, bulky Super Duty isn't exactly a direct replacement for the midsize crossover.

Ford clearly has plenty of available SUVs right now, so there's no urgent need to replace the Edge. And, if Ford's EV woes continue as they have, the new Edge certainly won't be electric. The F-150 Lightning's short real-world towing range and the Mustang Mach-E GT's hamstrung quarter-mile performance did not help sales. Heck, Ford has pulled the plug entirely on the F-150 Lightning.

In January of 2023, when Ford was planning to turn the Edge factory into a facility for three-row EVs, the average price of an EV was $62,529. By April 2024, when Ford announced the Oakville plant wasn't slated to make EV Edge replacements after all, the average cost of EVs shrank to $49,258, a big reduction from previous years, but still not enough for proper EV profitability. Boston Consulting Group (BCG) did an analysis on EV profitability in April 2024, and found out just how much legacy automakers are losing on electric cars. The analysis showed that if a manufacturer sold an EV for $50,000, it would lose an estimated $6,000 on that vehicle. So it's no surprise that Ford would pivot to making big pickup trucks in a factory once intended for EV production. That's especially true these days, now that EV prices continue to rise with the elimination of government incentives. 

That makes Ford's CFO John Lawler statement to the BBC in August 2024 even less surprising, with the executive saying that Ford's EV plans were scaling back because of "pricing and margin compression." And so, Ford decided to concentrate on what was already selling: internal-combustion trucks. F-Series trucks alone made Ford $41.5 billion of revenue in 2022, outpacing Starbucks, Netflix, and Visa.

With the EV market softening, is it likely that Ford will launch an internal-combustion or hybrid replacement for the Edge? Probably not. Ford announced in August that it's spending $5 billion on the "Ford Universal EV Platform" and "Ford Universal EV Production System." Ford's Louisville plant is preparing for a vehicle launch in 2027, and the BlueOval Battery Park in Michigan is set to start producing Ford's new lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery cells. The vehicle launching in 2027? Not an Edge replacement.

According to Ford, the first vehicle on the platform will be a midsize four-door EV pickup truck that prioritizes lightness, starts near $30,000, and accelerates as quickly as a Mustang EcoBoost. After the pickup, the universal platform could underpin a similarly-sized crossover to fill the Edge void, though nothing specific has been announced. Perhaps there are other Edge candidates? There's the Europe-only Ford Explorer EV, which sounds remarkably like the original planned Edge replacement with three rows of seats and electric power. The problem is, while it's amongst the top 25 best-selling EVs in Europe, sales are weak enough that Ford's cutting around 1,000 jobs from the plant in Cologne, Germany, where Explorer EVs are built.

Maybe Ford could replace the Edge with the Edge? Yeah, Ford sells the "Edge L" in China. It's a three-row SUV with a wheelbase 8 inches longer than the old Edge. The hybrid version makes 271 hp and gets 37 mpg. Plus, it has excellent dependability scores. All this while there's absolutely no official word on an American Edge replacement. Edge fans, if this doesn't get your blood boiling, what will?