The Focus That Should be in the USA

[Deanh]

This is what the Focus should look like:

 

 

135,000 lb/ft of torque, 6,290 horsepower, and 300 miles per ton of coal out of a 4-cylinder... Corolla ain't got nothing on this one.

eco boost?

[V8 Ford]

I looked at KBB for the C30 R-Design (which I assume is the same level as the ST). Base was $26400. Loaded (but still manual trans) was $32600.

IIRC, the R design is just a trim package and the C30 starts off with all the performance features of the Focus ST, save for softened suspension (sports suspension tune is optional).

[mlhm5]

Yeah, ok. We're on our 4th in 6 model years. We hate them, they devalue so bad we keep buying them.

I don't know why we do it.

 

The 2005 Focus made the top 10 worst in residual value. Please point out the Ford Focus in relation to the Honda Civic in the top 10.

[pcsario]

Well FWIW, the new Focus ST doesn't look as hot as the pre-refreshed one in person.

 

The sedan is another story, though.

[Deanh]

The 2005 Focus made the top 10 worst in residual value. Please point out the Ford Focus in relation to the Honda Civic in the top 10.

depreciation is NOT based on perceived ( and SPECULATIVE ) lease residuals....try and lease thru Union bank, bank of America, Wells fargo .....oh, thats right ....they all GUESSED wrong and got burdened with cars going thru auctions THOUSANDS below their GUESTIMATES.....look at auctions for TRUE values, focus are RIGHT AT THE TOP in relation to KBB, oddly enough so are Rangers.................

[mlhm5]

And I say a Focus that looks like this would sell 150,000,000 cars per year. In North Dakota. To people that operate dude ranches that cater to retired silent movie actors.

 

 

Nobody ever got rich overestimating the taste of the American public…

 

The 2009 reskin of the Focus cost more to develop than it would have cost to certified the EU Focus for sale in the US.

 

So, I do have to wonder what would have happened if they had brought the EU focus over

Edited June 4, 2008 by mlhm5

[JETSOLVER]

Wow! BASE price for a Focus ST is 17500 quid. That's $34206. And that wasn't a base car he was driving.

 

Keeping in mind that the ST is not a run of the mill Euro focus.

 

Not that it was for a run of the mill driver, the SVT Focus was about a 30% premium over the run of the mill ZX3. About typical of SVT product.

 

Considering that a Mazdaspeed 3 is about 25k, and does not have nearly as much of the good stuff as the ST does(like the turbo), and with the de-contenting that is typical, I think that the car could have a nice slot here at 30k.

 

The current N.A. focus tops out at 20, assume a premium Mercury badged version at 25k in a like model line up, I don't see how its a stretch to have imported a few to reposition Mercury as what Pontiac used to sell, a premium version of the gingerbread for the few who like driving more than most. Call it, perhaps Capri? And get a few people at least driving a Mercury badge, ready to move up a notch in the next go round looking for more of that premium profit stuff. Assuming there is a Mercury left circa 2010 for them to move to. At least Lincoln is moving out of the 70's now, perhaps that could have been a plan. Of course, using the Focus name might have been an issue, but then again halo cars have their place in marketing and showroom traffic.

 

Its all pie in the sky now, but I gotta think that there was a niche here, and it was missed.

Edited June 4, 2008 by JETSOLVER

[RichardJensen]

Nobody ever got rich overestimating the taste of the American public…

You've got it wrong. It's actually, "No one ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public."

 

That by secret bigot H.L. Mencken (thank you TV's Frank)

[RichardJensen]

OK, this is the car they would have

Ah Sunset Blvd. Did you know that Erich von Stroheim directed Gloria Swanson in real life?

[sonofford]

IIRC, the R design is just a trim package and the C30 starts off with all the performance features of the Focus ST, save for softened suspension (sports suspension tune is optional).

 

R-Design is just a trim package. That package does include the sports suspension (same as in version 2.0 of the C30).

[P71_CrownVic]

Wow! BASE price for a Focus ST is 17500 quid. That's $34206. And that wasn't a base car he was driving.

That SAME car sold for $25K in Mexico. Ford is lazy.

[Michael Reynolds]

I'll be glad when the Focus rides on the same global platform.

[RichardJensen]

I'll be glad when the Focus rides on the same global platform.

Because that will stop the complaining, right? WRONG.

[jpd80]

Can't see what all the fuss is about.

I've looked at ST170 and the C1 Focus side by side, both are good little cars and I wouldn't value one over the other.

[Michael Reynolds]

Because that will stop the complaining, right? WRONG.

 

HA, well yeah probably not.

 

Can't see what all the fuss is about.

I've looked at ST170 and the C1 Focus side by side, both are good little cars and I wouldn't value one over the other.

 

I've always wanted an instrumented pitting both platforms against one another.

[Critic]

Ah Sunset Blvd. Did you know that Erich von Stroheim directed Gloria Swanson in real life?

 

yes,,, Norma Desmond.. " He vas my ................. Boyfriend!"

 

BTW. what kind of car was her's? Only pic I could find.

[RichardJensen]

An Isotta Fraschini, or so claims Wikipedia.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isotta-Fraschini

[papilgee4evaeva]

Because that will stop the complaining, right? WRONG.

 

"The C2 Focus sux... its manual is written in American English and not British English!"

[JW]

The 2009 reskin of the Focus cost more to develop than it would have cost to certified the EU Focus for sale in the US.

 

Alan sharing the books with you again? No? THEN WHERE DO YOU COME UP WITH THIS SHIT???????

[RichardJensen]

It certainly cost Ford more to develop this Focus than it would cost to CERTIFY the C1 Focus.

 

But that's not the point.

 

It probably cost as much to tool up to build this Focus as it would to build the C1 Focus. Both for Ford and for its suppliers.

 

Ford does have to eat 100% of the costs for design and development of this model, but I'm not sure how much that would amount to as opposed to amortizing its share of the global C1 budget (expanded so as to include NA specific engineering).

 

Where not going C1 hurt Ford (and its Tier1 suppliers):

 

PARTS COST, and to a lesser extent, engineering.

 

In terms of tooling it's a wash. Ford would have to refit a stamping plant exclusively for the NA Focus so there's no money saved there and stamping equipment is a heeeyoooouge part of new product tooling expenses.

 

Bottom line is there IS money to be saved using a global architecture, but not where many on the board think it's to be saved ("if we manufacture just one kind of Focus, we only need one set of dies" is one of the most common 'cost saving' fallacies out there, and it persists in the media as well).

 

Heck, most of the cost savings for a global vehicle exist at the supplier level, not at the Ford level--that is to say, the bulk of the savings are PASSED ON to Ford.

 

Most of the money Ford saves directly is in reduced engineering & durability testing.

Edited June 5, 2008 by RichardJensen

[lfeg]

No. Here's the Focus that should be in the USA!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

 

It would sell way better than the one we've got now!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

What? You want proof? Well, I'm not supplying any proof. My word is sufficient to establish the truth of anything I say. Why? I'm mlhm5 dammit, and I'm right!

 

Ah yes, a Soviet Packard. Put me down for a dozen!

 

The Focus ST is a niche vehicle, not a mainstream one. Enthusiasts are a small part of the market, and niche vehicles are for them. In the US, the predominate segment of the maarket is the "cars as appliances" segment - just look at the top selling cars the last few months. That is where Honda and Toyota shine - find out what the markets want and then build it. The domestics are good at that too, but they tend to hang on too long for their own good and are not flexible enough to change as necessary - witness SUVs and big trucks.

[lfeg]

This is what the Focus should look like:

 

 

135,000 lb/ft of torque, 6,290 horsepower, and 300 miles per ton of coal out of a 4-cylinder... Corolla ain't got nothing on this one.

 

Nah, The Focus is supposed to be economical, it should be a Pennsy K4s, the most efficient express loco of its day.

K4s

[BigBadBflo]

the platforms are merged again in a couple years. why keep bringing this up? Esp with the current model selling well?

 

And why replace the fiesta with the euro focus when in a couple years we will have both models anyways?

[BigBadBflo]

This is what the Focus should look like:

 

 

135,000 lb/ft of torque, 6,290 horsepower, and 300 miles per ton of coal out of a 4-cylinder... Corolla ain't got nothing on this one.

 

VW is going to make a diesel-coal-nuclear hybrid that gets the same specs but with 10000mi/ton

[jpd80]

Bottom line is there IS money to be saved using a global architecture, but not where many on the board think it's to be saved ("if we manufacture just one kind of Focus, we only need one set of dies" is one of the most common 'cost saving' fallacies out there, and it persists in the media as well).

 

Heck, most of the cost savings for a global vehicle exist at the supplier level, not at the Ford level--that is to say, the bulk of the savings are PASSED ON to Ford.

 

Most of the money Ford saves directly is in reduced engineering & durability testing.

I'm wondering if the 2009 Focus will be another progression or evolution towards the global Focus.

Not in the styling sense but more in power train, electricals and some of the suspension members.

That would enable use of the global parts bin and organising supplier chains before the actual switch.

Edited June 5, 2008 by jpd80