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Daily Driver: 2015 Ford Edge Sport

Daily Driver videos are micro-reviews of vehicles in the Autoblog press fleet, reviewed by the staffers that drive them every day. Today's Daily Driver features the 2015 Ford Edge Sport, reviewed by Adam Morath. You can watch the video above or read a transcript below. Watch more Autoblog videos at /videos. VIDEO TRANSCRIPT [00:00:00] Hi. I'm Adam Morath for Autoblog and in today's Daily Driver we're with the 2015 Ford Edge. It's been completely redesigned and I really think that it needed it because this was always kind of the last car to come to mind when I was considering all of Ford's lineup. It was sort of forgotten. I don't think that will be the case anymore. It looks great. They revamped the exterior. The first thing I noticed walking up to the car when they first dropped it off was [00:00:30] the great job they've done with the taillights. They've got a very high tech look to them. You have LED accent lighting that surrounds the tail lamps and then a light bar that spans the entire deck lid. It looks pretty cool, very angular, a lot sportier than the previous models. We also have the optional HID headlights so if you combine that with what I've already told you about with the [00:01:00] tail lamps, and also the ambient lighting inside this vehicle ... It just feels like the lighting in general was very well considered on the Edge and gives it a very modern feel. The nice design continues to the interior as well. You've got leather panels with contrast stitching on the sport model. You've got a nice center console that actually has some storage underneath it, so it's sort of a floating center console. The only thing is there is still a little bit of cheap plastic [00:01:30] used on the interior. That's a common complaint of automotive journalists worldwide, but this one I can see already has a few scratches on it. You can also get this vehicle with 20-inch aluminum wheels or 21-inch matte black aluminum wheels. Here we've got them wrapped in Perelli. I haven't been on a track or anything where you could really get a sense of the performance, but again, that just adds to the sporty look of the Edge in the sport trim level. It has the new 2.7 [00:02:00] liter Eco Boost V6 and I have been really happy with this powertrain. It puts out 315 horsepower, 350 pound feet of torque, and that's that twin turbo working for you. It helps with acceleration and passing at highway speed, so it checks both boxes there.

2015 F-150 launch to curb Ford profits?

Ford is making a big bet on aluminum with its new 2015 F-150, and it's possible that the decision will hurt the company financially, at least in the short term. After earning a record $8.6 billion in 2013, the Blue Oval does not expect to set another record in 2014. According to Automotive News, that's "largely attributable to F Series," says Bob Shanks, Ford's Chief Financial Officer.
To retool for the new F-150, Ford will idle its Dearborn Truck Plant in Michigan for 11 weeks and the Ford Kansas City Assembly Plant in Missouri for 2 weeks. "3 of the 13 overall weeks occur during what normally is our summer shutdown timeframe," said Mike Levine, Ford Trucks Communication Manager, in an email to Autoblog. The extra 10 weeks will be preparing for the more aluminum-intensive construction for the trucks and will mean over 2 months of no F-150s being made. For comparison's sake, Chrysler boss Sergio Marchionne just confirmed that the 200 plant in Sterling Heights, MI will be down for 30 days to retool for the new model, but obviously there are many more F-150 production variables than for the midsize sedan.
Levine notes that Ford is already running three shifts at both plants, and says the automaker has plans to ensure that there is adequate supply of the full-size pickups during the retooling process. The company does not want to suffer a shortage of the vehicle that accounted for 31-percent of its 2013 US sales and an even bigger percentage of its profits.

Techstars Mobility brings transportation startups to Detroit

A new tech incubator is looking to combine the Motor City's automotive history with its evolving tech startup landscape. "Techstars Mobility, Driven by Detroit" kicks off its first round with 10 startups next week. Techstars is an established accelerator network with incubators around the world, and Detroit is a new addition. The projects center around mobility in some form, be it improving vehicles, moving goods, or working cars into the sharing economy in new ways. In return for a percentage stake in each company, Techstars provides mentorship, access to experts, seed money, and a collaborative environment. One startup we're particularly excited about is Motoroso. This site is like Pinterest for the car-obsessed, with boards replaced by garages that can contain photos and links to other projects. The site lets you follow brands – Chevy, Porsche, Ducati, and others already have profiles – as well as other users. For the Autoblog editors, Motoroso provides a new way to share stories, photos, and video, as well as a way to discover new products and interesting DIY projects. Take a look at the Autoblog profile and wander around the site to check things out. Another one of the startups, Classics & Exotics, is helping owners of interesting cars and would-be drivers connect in an Airbnb-style distributed rental program. Think of it as an auction catalog you can drive. Renters can specify the price, mileage, minimum driver age, and availability. Similar to Airbnb, Classics & Exotics provides each vehicle owner with $1 million in liability and damage protection. The company also vets renters for added peace of mind. Sounds like fun, and a cheap way to avoid a costly Craigslist or eBay mistake. Along similar shared-economy lines comes SPLT, a ride-sharing platform that finds people going where you're going and lets you hop in a car and split the costs. It's aimed at commuters but also has great applications for those looking for occasional one-way rides somewhere. SPLT notes that the system is a good way to meet new people – hopefully, good new people. Depending on how well SPLT keeps sketchy rides and riders out of the system, this could be a solid alternative to services like Uber and Lyft. This Techstars Mobility class has backing from corporate sponsors, including Ford, Honda, Magna, Dana, Verizon Telematics (Verizon has an offer pending to buy AOL, our parent company), and McDonald's.