That’s Ford Motor’s internal name for
the new design themes rolled out in its new Edge crossover, Fusion sedan and Reflex concept.
Modern Styling
elements include a three-bar grille, “power dome” hood, broad shoulders, dual exhausts, four-piece quad
headlights and clean, smooth side surfaces. Many of these cues are extravagantly displayed on Ford’s Super Chief
concept truck, shown at right. (Look for a toned-down Super Chief look in the upcoming redesign of the F-250
pickup.)
Peter Horbury, Ford’s executive director of North American design, identified the Ford Five Hundred
as the company’s last (failed) attempt at a “euro-styled” Ford for the North American market, and a trigger
for Ford’s shift in design direction. Ford’s “Modern Styling” is evidently the leading edge of the
“bold, American design” promoted by Mark Fields and other Ford execs at the L.A. and Detroit Auto SHows.