Future Ford Small Cars

[fuzzymoomoo]

Here's the other thing too, how many MKII focus do you see driving around? I see one every now and then, but not nearly as often as you should to warrant keeping it on sale. There's a reason it only made it one model year.

[LincolnV]

Here's the other thing too, how many MKII focus do you see driving around? I see one every now and then, but not nearly as often as you should to warrant keeping it on sale. There's a reason it only made it one model year.

 

Do you mean MKII in general or the 2-door? I see the 4-door everywhere still but I live in a city that has a lot of smaller cars.

[fuzzymoomoo]

 

Do you mean MKII in general or the 2-door? I see the 4-door everywhere still but I live in a city that has a lot of smaller cars.

MKII 2-door. 2008 was the last year it was made.

[LincolnV]

MKII 2-door. 2008 was the last year it was made.

 

I guess it was the only year then. I thought it wasn't very nice looking and am not sure why they brought it to market. I had heard that hatches were out of the question because of they would have issues with crash tests.

[fuzzymoomoo]

 

I guess it was the only year then. I thought it wasn't very nice looking and am not sure why they brought it to market. I had heard that hatches were out of the question because of they would have issues with crash tests.

From what I know talking to people at work that were there when MKII was still in production, that car was a major headache to build. My team leader said the front clip itself was one of the worst designs she had ever seen in her then 15 years working there. The fact that they ruled out a hatchback due to crash test worries doesn't surprise me at all.

[jpd80]

One interesting aspect with compacts is the increasing wheelbase and the resultant increase in rear leg room

as exampled by the new Corolla. these super sized compacts have passenger space similar to a mid sized car

which in turn allows the sub compacts below them to increase in size to just below a compact..

 

So from that, I can see Fiesta/Ecosport/B-Max/Figo merging with the C1/C2 to create a better product envelope

for those vehicles while leaving the larger CD4 to take care of the bigger mid range utilities and larger cars.

Maybe theis is where the hints of a future CD6 platform come in, slightly different product envelope?

[Biker16]

Astra and Megane aren't sold in the U.S.

 

86 and Miata are separate vehicles, not 2 door versions of a 4 door vehicle.

 

Kia and Hyundai coupes are simply there because they're cheaper (if they still make them).

 

VW has their own historical following for beetles, golfs and scirroccos that other dealers can't duplicate.

 

That leaves the Honda Civic. In the U.S. at least.

 

And the US is the center of the Global small car market, right?

 

You do realize that those coupe have higher ASPs than their more pedestrian Sedans and hatches, this BTW is the same business case used to develop Ford performance models, higher prices than basic models means more profitable Vehicles.

 

By your logic we should not have the RS or ST because the US market alone would not have made it remotely possible to develop either car, right?

 

you are also assuming that having it sourced in one country for global markets isn't a possibility.

 

 

It's really simple - if it was worth the investment we'd already have Focus and Fiesta 2 or 3 doors here since they're already made and sold in Europe (or they were).

 

Focus 2 door as other mentioned was cancelled due to the economy not because their wasn't a market, AFAIK.

 

Why don't we let Ford determine what is and isn't worth the investment.

[Biker16]

It's not that it's not flexible, it's that they crammed too much into a tiny space. Someone didn't think they layout through very well when they designed and rebuilt it after they moved the Expedition down to Kentucky.

 

It would seem that someone is an idiot layout a plant that is unable to build the products its Equipment should be able to build.

[jpd80]

We also thought that hatchbacks were dead before Focus proved that wrong.

Perhaps other products are cyclic too and Ford has to be ready to chase the whims of the buyer.

There's a lot of money to be made out of selecting the right vehicles for the right times but it can

also be just as hard to to choose some products over others know that they are all great designs.

 

The fact that Ford has alternate product that is tantalizingly close that we can discuss the possibility

of their introduction is a credit to them - IMO, other manufacturers would kill to have Ford's non-starters.

Edited February 13, 2015 by jpd80

[atomcat68]

Astra and Megane aren't sold in the U.S.

 

86 and Miata are separate vehicles, not 2 door versions of a 4 door vehicle.

 

Kia and Hyundai coupes are simply there because they're cheaper (if they still make them).

 

VW has their own historical following for beetles, golfs and scirroccos that other dealers can't duplicate.

 

That leaves the Honda Civic. In the U.S. at least.

 

It's really simple - if it was worth the investment we'd already have Focus and Fiesta 2 or 3 doors here since they're already made and sold in Europe (or they were).

The Megane is also the Nissan Sentra. So it can be done, but Renault/Nissan chooses not to sell a 2 door Sentra.

 

I have to agree with Akirby, a 2 door based off a sedan does not seem to be a practical business case for this market (USA), otherwise most manufacturers would offer one. It seems that only Honda does well with it.

[blazerdude20]

MKII 2-door. 2008 was the last year it was made.

Not true. The MKII coupe made it three full model years (08-10). It was dropped for the final year of MKII.

 

http://www.iihs.org/iihs/ratings/vehicle/v/ford/focus-2-door-coupe

[fuzzymoomoo]

That just further proves my point. They were made for 3 years and how many do you see driving around?

[fuzzymoomoo]

Oops

Edited February 13, 2015 by fuzzymoomoo

[jpd80]

The Megane is also the Nissan Sentra. So it can be done, but Renault/Nissan chooses not to sell a 2 door Sentra.

 

I have to agree with Akirby, a 2 door based off a sedan does not seem to be a practical business case for this market (USA), otherwise most manufacturers would offer one. It seems that only Honda does well with it.

The use of 2-door coupe was obviously done as a way of offering something different

without being too different on the production line and as changes go, it was probably

very affordable, the longer doors already available as were the front halfs of the

vehicle side pressings.

[blazerdude20]

That just further proves my point. They were made for 3 years and how many do you see driving around?

Well it was fairly ugly as coupes go. The civic coupe is actually a pretty decent coupe, and it's a real one at that. Not just a sedan with two doors lopped off like the focus was.

 

The only reason the MKIIcoupe existed is budget restraints. Ford couldn't afford to reskin the hatches at the time and did the best they could with limited resources.

 

I would imagine with a real budget Ford could build a solid coupe entry. It being a worthwhile investment is up in the air though.

Edited February 13, 2015 by blazerdude20

[silvrsvt]

The only reason the MKIIcoupe existed is budget restraints. Ford couldn't afford to reskin the hatches at the time and did the best they could with limited resources.

 

Actually not quite the case....go look at the rear side impact ratings on that Focus gen and you'll see they did pretty horribly. As a sidebar, I had a friend with a 2002 SVT Focus and he was talking to a SVT or Ford Engineer in MI at a track event, and he said that there was a structural "issue" with the hatchback where the C pillar would be normally on sedan Focus vs HB that make it weaker since it was removed to give more space in the HB. My friend actually crafted a reinforcement to go where the back seat/shock towers where on the car to help re-enforce it there.

 

Creating a coupe that added the C-pillar re-enforcement addressed that issue...even though it was kinda homely looking.

 

2004 Focus

 

2010 Focus

 

 

 

[630land]

The 08-09 Coupe was a flop, hardly sold any. It looked like those old plain jane Ford Custom 2 door sedans that older buyers got stripped bare. Not sporty at all.

That's why Jetta coupe was dropped years ago, and there's no Dart, Cruze, or Corolla 2 door. The Civic coupe is not selling at all these days. Ford/GM compact coupes from 10-20 years ago would need huge rebates after the novelty wore off, or were dumped into fleets.