SPY PICS: Ford Edge for Oz

First images of Ford’s facelifted Edge have emerged in the US, revealing the extent of the changes for the large SUV that will finally replace the company’s discontinued Territory in Australia next year.

Ford Australia confirmed in August 2016 that it will import the Edge – but not until 2018 and denied it would be direct replacement for the Territory, production of which ceased last October.

However, it’s likely our Edge – which could be rebadged as the Endura or Equator, but not Territory – will follow the lead of Europe’s Canadian-made version, which is powered by a diesel engine and offers just five seats.

That would mean Ford Australia will continue to be without a direct competitor for seven-seat car-based crossovers like the top-selling Toyota Kluger, Hyundai Santa Fe, Kia Sorento, Mazda CX-9 and Nissan Pathfinder.

It will also rival Holden’s forthcoming Equinox which -- together with the larger Acadia seven-seater due in 2018 and also sourced from the US -- will replace the ancient, unloved Captiva.

Like the discontinued Territory, the Mondeo-based Edge will be priced from about $40,000 and positioned between the mid-size Kuga and Ranger-based Everest, which is now available with both five and seven seats, in both 2WD and 2WD guises.

The pint-size EcoSport will remain at the bottom of Ford Australia’s slow-selling SUV range, but a facelifted version has similarly been delayed until next year and won’t bring an automatic transmission or a tailgate with hinges on the right side.

North America’s Edge is available with 2.0-, 2.7- and 3.5-litre petrol engines matched with a six-speed automatic transmission.

Upgrades for the pre-production model you see snapped here in Dearborn are expected to include a nine-speed automatic transmission and other mechanical upgrades that should reduce fuel consumption.

It’s unclear if any mechanical changes will be made for the right-hand drive diesel version sold in the UK and -- eventually – Australia.

Currently, the RHD Edge is built only in Canada, which supplies the UK market with a five-seat diesel line-up, while a longer seven-seat petrol version is produced in China for domestic consumption.

Also uncertain is whether there will be any interior or technology upgrades. Ford of Europe’s top-shelf Edge Vignale could gain more high-end features, which could be fitted to the US version – just as Ford did with its Mondeo Vignale-based 2017 Fusion Platinum.

What is clear, however, is that the midlife facelift for Ford’s second-generation Edge, which was released in the US in 2014 and in Europe earlier this year, will bring only minor exterior design updates, including new headlights and tail-lights.

As you can see from this camouflaged US-spec 2019 Edge, they will be joined by redesigned front and rear body panels and bumpers, which should extend the Blue Oval’s large SUV life cycle until at least 2021 when its successor arrives.

Ford Australia is yet to confirm any details about the Edge it will sell here next year, but when the model was confirmed before local manufacturing ceased last year CEO and president Graeme Whickman made it clear the delay was due to the timing of this midlife facelift.

“For us we’ll get it about a year after we stop selling Territory and for us that was the most opportune to secure the vehicle and launch the vehicle,” he said at the time.

“We’re part of a big global entity and therefore there are a lot of challenges in terms of where we source vehicles from, how we tool up and all manner of things, so for us that was the best time for us to launch the product – about a year after Territory sales.

“For us it’s the right time. For us and the company in general 2018 is optimal."