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Uninspiring Five Hundred was turning point
DETROIT - After years of struggling with vehicle designs that communicated a fuzzy brand identity, Ford Division is quickly rolling out a new signature look.
The new style abandons Ford's late-1990s desire to capture the European panache of Volkswagens and Audis. Instead, it embraces a simpler American look that borrows from the automaker's iconic - and big-selling-Mustang.
Two vehicles unveiled at last week's North American International Auto Show in Detroit, the Edge crossover and the sporty Reflex concept car, both bear the new brand markings.
The same design cues, referred to internally at Ford Motor Co. as Modern Styling, already exist on the Ford Fusion, which went on sale last year. They will be applied where feasible to existing Ford products, such as the Escape SUV, as well as to new models, such as the upcoming reengineered and...