Ford Edge Titanium Elite hits Chicago Auto Show, brings the luxury
Ford's newly refreshed crossover seeks to attract higher-end buyers with its fancy new trim level.
When Ford unveiled the new Edge last month in Detroit, we were pretty excited. Sure, it's another crossover in a sea of crossovers but thanks to its clean styling and available ST-trim, it managed to set itself apart. This week at the Chicago Auto Show , Ford plans to pull the wraps off of a new high-trim Edge appearance package, the Titanium Elite.
The Edge Titanium Elite exists presumably because Ford felt Dollar Shave Club was eating into its bottom line (that was a terrible razor joke, sorry). Really though, Ford has found that more and more people, around 6 percent on the whole and 8 percent for the edge specifically, are opting for high-specs when they buy a crossover, and Ford has never been shy about pandering to every possible market segment.
The Edge Titanium Elite differs from lower-spec models, thanks to its unique 20-inch wheels, full body color side cladding and a "more premium" rear skid plate (whatever that means). While we can't give you any real impressions yet, we can say that people are probably going to eat this thing up. Ford tells us that it has managed to shift 2,000,000 Edges worldwide since the model debuted in 2006. The model is a big hit in the US, especially with 2017 giving Ford its best sales year for the Edge yet, moving 142,603 units in total.
Probably the most interesting part of this announcement from Ford is its breakdown of Edge buyers by gender. It turns out that the Edge is the second most popular Ford vehicle with women, behind the Escape. While just 34 percent of total Ford buyers are women, fully 48 percent of people buying the Edge identify as female. That number was up from 42 percent in 2010.
Ford has given us no word on pricing yet, but we'll update with that information when it becomes available.