2007 Ford (Auto parts) Edge SEL AWD Review

2007 Ford Edge SEL AWD Review
2007 Ford Edge SEL AWD Review

Seasonal thoughts
It has turned cold here now and foggy so winter has duly arrived, if a little late. And it s that time of the year where we knock off, count our blessings and have a short break. It s a time for reflection and for looking forward to the year ahead. As far as 2006 is concerned, it s been a busy but fun year at just-auto and I d like to thank all of my colleagues for their unstinting hard work and dedication to the cause; that means all the Aroq (our publisher) staffers working in production, IT, editorial special mention for Groby the news editor -, research publishing, finance, sales and marketing, customer service, as well as our loyal network of freelance contributors and journalists. It s very much a team effort. On a personal note, the main bad news of the year was the loss of just-auto contributor Alex Graham to cancer at the age of 29. I didn t know Alex all that well, but he was unswervingly professional in my dealings with him; Alex characteristically carried on working, business-as-usual, for as long as he possibly could. Our thoughts are with his wife Sarah (known to many in the industry as the SupplierBusiness marketing manager), especially at this time of the year. Looking ahead to next year, I am sure there will be plenty going on and it all gets kick-started with Detroit in January. But right now, better recharge those batteries while there s time. It just remains for me to wish all just-auto readers and subscribers a Happy Christmas and very best wishes for 2007.

Toyota Auris launch
I m flying to Barcelona first thing Monday (after a hairy start-the-week-M25-M11-will-it-ever-end drive to Stansted airport) for the Toyota Auris UK media launch. You never know quite what you ll get out of these things, but it is always good to be invited and just-auto always gets copy out of such events. There is usually someone sensible to talk to. Some fairly bold claims have been made about the Auris, which is supposed to shake-up its segment and proudly proclaim that Toyota is shedding its rather dull Corolla image for something a little bit funky and modern. We ll see. Hope the sun comes out. And that I don t get lost

TVR mess
What a sad and sorry tale at TVR - the low volume maker of sportcars based (well, was based...) at Blackpool in the north of England. The Russian who came in for it, offering real hope, appears to have been pretty clueless. Crates of fresh fruit and veg for the workers symbolised an owner perhaps a little out of his depth. In TVR we have an exotic make with product, a degree of engineering know-how, a brand with heritage and a substantial band of diehard customers/supporters. If the gameplan is taking production to Italy and minimising the costs of shutting the Blackpool site, that won't go down at all well with the existing customer base. And what would future TVRs be, exactly?

2007 Jaguar XKR Coupe Review
2007 Jaguar XKR Coupe Review

Ford and Toyota
The time between Christmas and New Year is pretty dead for news (hence our offices are shut down), but Ford and Toyota have apparently been discussing collaboration. Most likely any collaboration would be confined to the fuel/hybrid technology area. I'm not sure that either party really needs the other's know-how here, but that's probably not important. It plays well politically for both. As Toyota usurps Ford as global number two, gaining ground on GM for top spot next year also, it is highly sensitive to perceptions in the US. Japanese political and business leaders know how important the US market is to them and don't want to hear of any kind of anti-Japanese movement or political bandwagon developing in the US ('the Japanese don't play fair, the yen is undervalued, companies get government support' etc.). It keeps them up at night. This can be taken as evidence that they are soft and cuddly and don't want to actually drive Detroit out of business (hmmm). Toyota-Ford follows similar Toyota-GM top-level discussions in the past. And restructuring Ford gets a boost from any talk of association with stellar performer Toyota, however vague; if nothing else, the news is a boost to Ford's management and evidence that Mulally and Co. are actually active. And the shareholders are happy. I'm sure both sets of management are satisfied with the media coverage and the spin they can put on it. But don't expect a grand alliance to be announced imminently or even anything particularly solid to come out of this.