New Edge
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New Edge was the name given to a style of automobile design used by Ford Motor Company for many of its passenger vehicles in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Applied mostly to cars sold in Europe, New Edge was the brainchild of Jack Telnack, who served as Vice President of Design for Ford from 1980 to 1997.
As the name may imply, characteristics of New Edge styling were the use of straight edges and polygons in design - most notably triangular headlamps - as opposed to rounded edges and curves. While distinctive, New Edge drew mixed reactions from the public on almost all cars it was applied to.
[edit] Vehicles with New Edge design
The first car to feature New Edge styling was the Ford Ka, released on September 11, 1996. The style was also applied to the Puma in 1997, the Focus in 1998 and the Cougar in 1999. All these cars were first-time releases into the market (although the Mercury Cougar had been selling in the United States for many years and received the same New Edge design as the European Cougar). The Ford Mondeo, which was redesigned in 2000, borrowed some features from the New Edge philosophy (namely, the headlamps) but was never fully identifiable as a New Edge car.
[edit] In Australia
Ford Australia applied New Edge styling to the Falcon for its "AU" model, which was first released in 1998. The past ten years had left a bad taste in the mouth of Falcon buyers, and Ford chose a bold direction for the Falcon's design. The experiment did not prove successful, however, as the Australian public largely rejected the drooping headlamps and taillights. Ford was forced to give the Falcon an extensive exterior upgrade, aswell as mechanical upgrade in 2002, which has since been lauded by the press and performed well in the market. The 2002 exterior refresh served as the basis of the Falcon's design from then through to 2008.
[edit] End of the line
Ford officially scrapped New Edge in 2002 - the year in which the Cougar and Puma were dropped from Ford's European range - although many features of the style continue to be seen in updated designs of the Ka, and to an extent, the 2006 Mondeo (although one could argue the Mondeo is based off the 2006 Ford Iosis concept.
