chungkopi

no euro focuses, no mondeo's. what da hell is wrong with ford?

M TYPE X

I saw an awesome Ford Five Hundred today on I-75!



... I only noticed it because the driver cut me off and I had to ride his tail for 10 miles. :oldman:

ilitig8

My guess is price. Dunno if it is right or wrong but here is my guess, people that would pony up for a more expensive nice small car are just the type of people that post on forums like this. If it came to NA then you would find the posts sound something like this:

"looks cool but its a Ford"
"too expensive for a small Ford"
"nice but reliability will suck"
"meh"
"Fix Or Repair Daily"

I see it like a lot of other cars, lots of cool "build it" buzz but when they do it hits big then trails off into oblivion.

charliemike

Pretty much. Ford in Europe has a totally different status than here.

M TYPE X

Ford USA doesn't do 'buzz.' They do LIFE IN D ... if you're 24 and a woman and your name is Jennifer, the marketing department wants to talk to you. Otherwise, buy the competition.

Ford: idiots

Moog-Type-S

arguement. Case in point: Hyundai.
People thought Hyundai was ...and it was for a long time. Now they are putting excellent cars on the road in both design, engines, & features....and people are and will buy them in droves. It's the product, not the name that will save or change a car company. Nobody was buying Nissan in the mid to late 90's. Their designs were horrible....now they turned it around and are selling cars again.

titan

You right.

ilitig8

I may agree it is a lame argument, I was presenting what I think may be Ford's resoning, not how I see it or what I would do, however I might just feel the same way... Part of the problem with this car badged as a Ford is it will be expensive compared to the "Ford" level cars in our market, that said I think they would do better if they badged it a Lincoln and did NOT bring the chassis/sheet metal to the US as a Ford but thay want do that.

As for your arguments regarding Hyundai, they are making excellent cars BUT they have continued to keep the price low AND still sell at significant discounts to get their market penetration. Point being thay haven't tried to bring in a car priced above their "reputation" and have kept them below the median price for the category. They have followed the pricing paradigm for penetration, I do not think this car could work for Ford badged as a Ford unless they are willing to make no money on the car. They need a better product in this arena BUT if the product is too good and priced accordingly it will not work.

The Nissan example might be better, Nissan took chances on design and reduced quality (particularly in interiors), Mr. G rolled the dice and did not crap out. But, they did not produce cars that were priced OVER their perceived place in the market. The G for example was a great car, despite some cost cutting, but it was priced exactly where you would think Infiniti "should" price its entry level sport sedan, thus it sold and sold big. My point being this car would be expensive for its segment here in the US and priced above Ford's perceived placement in that segment.

In the end I do not think it will happen, I do not think it would work if it did BUT if they brought it here, used quality interior materials and badged it Lincoln alone it just might have a shot at doing good things.

charliemike

Let's look at this as a cheaper C70 convertible and perhaps it would make sense as a Lincoln? Just put a Lincoln grille on it and Lincoln tails and it should work shouldn't it?

titan

This concept and the C70 aren't related. I think you have a good idea; Lincolnize the car and sell it as a Lincoln.

charliemike

Yeah, I just meant as a way to position it.

deandorsey

yes they are

Last year shown as concept car in the name Focus Vignale, now it appears as Focus Coupe-Cabriolet production car. Built by Pininfarina, you might think it share the same 3-piece retractable metal roof with sister car Volvo C70. No, the Focus must be sold at cheaper price thus it adopts only a 2-piece folding roof like rival Peugeot 307CC and Renault Megane CC. This explain why it comes with a very long tail and very limited headroom for rear passengers. On the plus side, the long long boot contributes to 500 litres of luggage space when it is not used to store the roof.

While the C70 is powered by 5-cylinder (turbocharged or not) engines, the Ford can only rely on some bread-and-butter four-cylinder engines from the Focus range, such as a 100hp 1.6 petrol, a 145hp 2.0 petrol and the 136hp 2.0 turbo diesel, the latter shared with Peugeot 307CC. As the conversion is likely to add 200 or so kilograms to the kerb weight, any brisk performance would be doubtful. Unless it fail to reach the sales target of 20,000 cars per year, Ford is unlikely to add the Focus ST's 220hp 2.5-litre 5-pot turbo engine to the CC, because that would have overlapped with Volvo C70 T5.

Unlike the Volvo sister car, it will be built at Pininfarina's plant at Turin, Italy. That will fill the space left by the late Ford StreetKa.





http://www.autozine.org/0_News/Archi...ews_frame.html

bigman

Wow, that would sell like hot cakes here. The coolness factor is pretty high with that retractable hard top. I dont understand why for hasnt brought over the awd mondeo or why gm has brought over any of Holden's rwd cars to america yet(other than the gto).

deandorsey

Updated U.S. Ford Focus for 2007; No Euro model

The Ford Focus will get an updated front end for the 2007 model year, but that’s it. Americans will not get the superior European model, as many enthusiasts had hoped. As evidenced by a recent spy photo taken by KGP Photography, the Focus will get a new grille (and possibly new headlights), but for the most part it will remain unchanged.







he's some current uk fords....we will never see

the Ka



the Streetka






Fiesta






Fusion




Focus










god i want that car


Focus C-MAX






Mondeo









Galaxy

dom

I just don't understand this decesion.

Its as if Ford wants to go out of business.

dozorca

What the hell? 15.7 L /100km?

titan

That's so lame. All of Ford's product for Europe is better than ours. The could atleast pull an Opel/Saturn, and rebadge them for Mercury for us.

sdho

bring Mondeo, Focus, and Fiesta!

dom

The car uses 15.7 litres of fuel per 100km's. Its an imperial fuel measurement.

charliemike

I would buy any of those cars before I'd buy an American Ford.

How about this, take all the Euro Fords, make them Mercurys, and "Walla" ... Market Share

(and I know it's Voila!)

Maximized

This is stupid. Ford's arguement was that the Euro focus is too expensive to be sold in N/A, but the Mazda 3 shares the same underpinnings. Ford get a clue! Use the 3 platform and use Ford's corporate styling theme. Steel the main interior design of the Euro Focus and you've got a winner.

West6MT

oonowindoo

damn euro focus is acutally pretty sexy..... i dont mind spending 20k for it

Sclass88

I like the Mondeo.... I think that would be a hit for Ford if it ever got to the US.

jwong77

I believe thats pretty much what a Jaguar X-Type is. I guess they didn't want to compete against themselves.

DownUnder

But without the high maintenance cost, price tag, and the Mondeo has a much better reliability record over there.

heyitsme

I agree, I would actually considering the euro focus with the higher price and wouldn't even look at a refreshed current focus with the 'bargain price'.

youngTL

That poster was from Toronto too. I think he meant what the hell as is in

"why the hell is a FAMILY SEDAN using 15.7L/100km?"

Dan Martin

For our american friends, 15.7L/100km = 15mpg

dozorca

Yes! Thanks

stangg172004

WHY CANT WE HAVE TAHT!!!

DownUnder

It's probably that low cause it's a test car i.e. they're driving it like it was stolen. Driven normally it probably gets around 20 to 25MPG.

Silver™

In May, an otherwise dismal month for Detroit, Ford Motor Co. (F ) sold more than 20,000 Focus subcompacts, the fuel sipper's best showing in nine months. That's great news, right? Not really. Ford lost an estimated $4,000 to $5,000 on each Focus it sold.

What irony. Just when the subcompact market is heating up, Ford can't make money on a car acclaimed for its taut handling and decent 26/32-mpg fuel economy. The auto maker's Focus problem (pun intended) is an object lesson in how Ford continues to be hamstrung by high labor costs and tired product design. By choosing not to remake the Focus for the U.S. when it had the chance, Ford misread the road ahead. Now the auto maker is working overtime to bolster the Focus, albeit not until 2008, with a face-lift plus three new small cars.

When it hit the U.S. in 2000, the Focus was widely applauded. Car & Driver magazine named Ford's zippy subcompact to its influential "Ten Best" list four years running. But by 2003 the Focus had suffered more than 12 recalls. And when Ford redesigned it in 2004, the new Focus appeared only in Europe, where Dearborn felt it could fetch a decent price. Meanwhile, the U.S. version received just cosmetic upgrades.

Critics lavished praise on the European Focus, while noting snidely that Ford clearly thought Americans were too dumb to realize they were getting an old car. "From a viral marketing standpoint, that kills a brand and means you are forever selling on price," says marketing consultant Dennis Keene.

Making matters worse, the Focus represented Ford's sole bet on the small-car segment. Big mistake. Now that the auto maker is adding to its car lineup with the new Fusion sedan and forthcoming Edge crossover SUV, Ford finds itself short of loyal compact customers it can coax into trading up. Tom Libby, senior director of analysis at Power Information Network (MHP ), says having compelling cars priced under $20,000 is crucial because "those buyers overwhelmingly trade up within the same brand."

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine...aign_id=search (full article)

fdl

Is the $5k a car due to recalls? Why would they sell a car for less than it costs to make

I guess the union wont be laughing when they are unemployed.

jwong77

I'll guess that it is a supply and demand thing (economics class). There's not enough demand to push the price up due to the fact they are forced to produce so many cars, which probably sit on lots for a long time. Reason why they produce so many cars probably has something to do with those union contracts. Just my guess at least.

charliemike

That and the Mazda3 is a superior car in every way.

I have a friend with a 2004 5-dr Focus SVT and we've compared it to my 2004 Mazda 3s and there's no way in hell I'd ever swap cars.

The Focus is STILL using that retarded interior design that debuted on the Escort back in 96 (if not earlier). You know, the design that has triangles and shit everywhere ... UGH.

The Mazda interior is much more attractive. Yeah I could have gotten a Focus for less but good God, why would I have wanted to?

charliemike

Stupid 5 minute edit limit ...

The Mazda interior is much more attractive. Yeah I could have gotten a Focus for less but good God, why would I have wanted to?

The interior of the Focus, which is what I'd see every day as a driver, is so poorly designed, so ergonomically horrific, so swathed in the shittiest plastics and fabrics that it's almost an insult. The car drives like shit compared to my Mazda (I recently drove an '06 Focus rental).

Focus:



Mazda 3s:

Ken1997TL

I'd like to personally smack the entire leadership at Ford. They have some great Mazda products they could use more effectively (even rebadge). They have products in Australia that would do very well in the US. At this point, they deserve whatever happens, let nature take its course.

subtledreamer

yep. yep. and yep again.

Infamous425

uh i guess u dont know that the current ford focus interior does not look like that anymore