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23 "For Edge, one of the things that is iconic is that the headlights are joined to the grille graphically," George says, so that has been retained and refned. The grille of the 2015 model features the hexagonal surround that has be- come characteristic of Ford front ends. In addition to which, "We retained the three-bar motif, but three negative spaces become the three bars." In the previous generation, the three bars are two bars of the same size and one big one, running horizontally across the front of the vehicle. The top of the hood is akin to a power dome. We didn't want to indicate that the engine is growing in size. So we have these two strakes running down the hood." Around back, they've gone from vertical lamps that were separated by body color and connected by body color. On the new vehicle, the taillights are connected to one another via a light bar and to the backlight (the taillights are framed in black to match the tint of the backlight). "Not reinventing the profle was actually a smart thing for us to do because instantly you know it's an Edge. But u  Among the objectives for the design of the interior was to make sure that there are high levels of refnement, such as not only making all of the surfaces likely to be touched soft touch, but also paying attention to things like fasteners and making sure that their heads are covered. when you zoom up and get closer to the vehicle and start reading the details, you see there are a lot of diferences." The interior design was headed up by Hak Soo Ha. "We spent a lot of atten- tion to detail. On the outgoing model we had a lot of exposed fasteners and inconsistent color matches. With this model, it has really been cleaned up." And the inner is in some ways a refection of the outer: "There are a lot of dynamic qualities on the exterior; we wanted to bring that into the interior. There are a lot of sculptural qualities to the lines. And we made the interior open and airy." There is, however, a greater contrast, in some ways, between the interior of the 2015 model and the previous incarnations. He suggests that the inside of the predecessor was "Plain-Jane. Now there is more decorative stitching, the use of piano black for surfaces, and more tailored details." What's more, Ha points out that on the original Edge, there was a hard plastic instrument panel and hard plastic door panels. When the vehicle underwent its mid-cycle refresh, the IP went to soft- touch material, but the doors remained rigid. "On the new Edge, everything that you touch is soft: the IP, the console rail, door, door insert." Additionally, he points out that while the arm rest was soft before, it was comparatively short. Now it is full length, front and rear. The fnal word goes to JD Shanahan, Edge chief engineer, who brings us back to the beginning. "The all-new Edge has been remade in every single detail— always keeping in mind the customer who expects something distinctive and powerful. "With a structure more rigid than ever and a suspension tuned to the highest global standards, the 2015 Edge is a high- tech utility that delivers a special driving experience customers will feel from their initial moments behind the wheel." Note that it is about the global customer. *This said, it should be noted that there is another version of the Edge, a China market exclusive produced in Hangzhou. It is longer than the Edge described here and features three rows.