Ford is boosting production of its Focus compact by nearly 30 percent. Dow Jones (via CNN Money) reports that FoMoCo will use overtime and Saturday shifts to raise Focus output at their Wayne, MI plant from 191k to 245k units per year. Ford sold 49,070 Focii in the first quarter of this year, up 23 percent from the year previous. Even better, retail (non-fleet) sales bounced by 35 percent. Ford claims the Focus' SYNC voice-activated media system ("play Fatman in the Bathtub") has given it an edge over its competition. Unfortunately, Ford's exclusive rights to the Microsoft technology powering SYNC expires in November– leaving the Focus with little more than low price and way-better-than-an-SUV mileage. This might explain Ford's decision not to add a third shift at the Wayne plant. Whatever the future holds for Fords slice of fugly, the Focus is the Blue Oval's Mr Right Now, gaining ground on the imports in the brutal compact market. Just imagine how well it would be doing doing if it looked even a little more like its handsome European cousin.
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As ugly as it is, it definitely grew on me. If I needed a car in this segment, this car would be near the top of my list: inexpensive, great MPGs, SYNC, low-emissions, and best of all, Built in the USA.
Good for Ford, in the short term anyhow.
Even though this single-star beauty is not the economy pick for the enthusiast, it is encouraging to know that a domestically produced domestic is doing well. Perhaps if the car gets enough attention, Ford can Focus a bit on ironing out enough details to make this car a bit more desirable. I sincerely hope that sales don’t SYNC when other players are allowed to incorporate the Microsoft tech.
All of that said, I find the outward appearance of this car to be worse than a decaying ostrich in the South Texas sun. Yes, I have seen both.
Why can’t they just bring in the Euro Focus? Sure the sync will help sell a few this year, but if they don’t keep updating the technology they’ll quickly lose ground again.
I have a 2002 Focus and it’s a great car. I’d love to replace it with the latest version (when it dies) but I believe this version is just a facelift of the one I have already.
There are a ton of new Focuses on the streets on Michigan (employee discount?).
I test drove one (SE with 5-speed manual). It was just ok, the engine had very little pep, the interior materials were pretty cheap, and the car felt small on the inside. I ended up getting a Mazda3 hatch (which came out around the same price, funny enough). Even the Ford guys essentially conceded that the 3 was a better car, if could be had at the same price. (Although the 3’s city mileage is absolutely nothing to write home about).
There is really no reason why Ford did not keep the existing Focus body frame for two more years and: (1) drop in the new 2.0L Duratec engine; (2) massively update the interior (which was pretty dated by 2007); (3) put in different-looking headlights and other exterior updates (maybe euro-focus style); (4) SYNC; (5) offer more options; and (6) how about putting that 2.3L 156hp engine in as a performance version.
I had a Focus ZTS. It was “Car of the year” in some auto magazine. Great handling but poor reliability, poor resale. Huge disappointment.
its not as ugly as the old one. But it still looks bad.
I’m still offended by the styling. I’d rather take the Mazda3 in place of this futuristic-looking pig.
The Mazda3 is definitely one of the best choices in that segment, along with the VW Golf.
The Euro-focus is often deemed the absolute best, in a segment that is extremely crowded in Europe. Too bad we can’t have it in the US (including the 225-hp RS!).
Now, for the American Focus, I’ve seen looots of TV ads for it, sometimes even 2 ads in the same ad stop. Pretty impressive media barrage.
Good for the dealers – I hope for Ford’s sake that they’re still not losing about $3k on each car.
I’m glad it’s selling for Ford’s sake. The company needs every sale it can get. And, if you must buy domestic, this is the best choice, given that the competition consists of the Cobalt/G5 and Dodge Caliber.
But I’m still waiting for the next-generation Focus, which will once again share its underpinnings with the latest European counterpart.
I don’t think its import classmates have much to worry about considering the thing is nearly 10 years old now. With the exception of the Cobalt, I think every model in the Focus class has undergone at least one generation upgrade. Elantra, Civic, Corolla, Mazda introduced the 3 during that time, Sentra, Spectra, et all have been upgraded.
I really hate the new look. I liked the old 5 door.
detroit1701: There are a ton of new Focuses on the streets on Michigan (employee discount?).
Yes.
It never phased me in the 3 years I did time in the D, but now that I’ve moved away, just walking outside of DTW is like stepping into an automotive universe unlike anywhere else in the land. Not a single car passes that is more than 2 years old. Squint as they drive by and half of the cars have April tabs indicating some fleet-issued management lease vehicle (at least from the one manufacturer I’ve been privy to). You’d swear the domestic auto industry was alive and kicking, as everybody flashes the latest and greatest metal.
Alas, venture anywhere outside the downward-spiraling microcosm that is SE Michigan (anyone hear a giant sucking sound? Wait, that’s my Washtenaw county property value careening into a the vortex of despair) and you’ll realize that it’s a farce… an automotive reality as distorted as Hollywood’s moral standards.
But I digress… Ford needs to rush the Verve to market… preferably without the Fiesta moniker, at least here in the U.S. Hopefully in parallel, they’ll find a way to make the Focus have its namesake so it can sustain past the flash-in-the-pan it’s destined to be.
Well, I hate to say “I told ya so…”, but I did say it: the Focus is eminently competitive with its peers, foreign and domestic.
Good for Focus. A new Civic is too pricey: the Corolla is bland and you can’t find one with reasonable options; Hyundais are cheap but expensive to fix. While I think the Cobalt is a better value, I’m still happy for Focus.
Ford offers a refined, perky domestic car that is cheap to run and repair and appeals to all demographics. Ford also marketed it brilliantly to tech-savvy buyers and played up the car’s Euro roots.
In my opinion, Ford is positioned where Honda used to be in the late 1980s – early 1990s. That is, offering a nimble, well-priced and well-optioned entry-level car. Buyers will eventually move up to a Fusion, a similarly superb bargain. Sorry, Honda: 18 grand for a Civic and 25 large for an Accord are real turn-offs (especially since you can get a Focus for $14.5k and a Fusion for $20k.)
Lotsa people will be joining the Ford family, and staying for life.
I am defiitely happy to see the sales of small cars going up. And happy to see something go right for Ford. (But why can’t they bring the euro focus???)
And despite my earlier comment about the ugliness of Focii, this car, and even the old one, aren’t nearly as bad as the Caliber. I’m having trouble thinking of a car that’s uglier than the Caliber. The Caliber is even worse than the original Tribeca.
limmin,
Love your enthusiasm for Ford, but…. First, maybe the new Focus has Euro roots (if the 9 year-old original model counts), but it is definitely as North American-small car design as it gets.
The problem was that Ford made a major market miscalculation in 2002-03. Ford made a strategic choice not to produce the C-1 platform in North America (citing cost), leaving it to Volvo and Mazda. It also left the CD3 platform to the Mazda6. In 2004, Ford should have: (1) made a new Volvo-platform large sedan (and not name it Taurus) (25K); (2) put the new Taurus on the CD3 sedan platform (20K); (3) pushed the Focus upscale on the C-1 (17-18K); and (4) introduced the Euro Fiesta as its small car (14K). By 2010, Ford will actually have all of that in place with the new Taurus, Fusion, C-2 Focus, and Verve/Fiesta. If Ford had adequately tracked market trends in ’04, it would not be so late to the party.
As crappy as the “new” Focus is they are certainly springing up everywhere here in the nation’s 5th largest city. Americans do love cheap.
starlightmica –
Per Ford’s sales call in March, the Focus is bringing in $2,000 more per transaction than the car it replaces. The costs of manufacturing have also decreased – so my guess is the equation is now much closer to break-even than not.
I will say this one last time, the difference in dynamics between this car and the C1 is not detectable by 95% of drivers. The C1 was an evolution on the C170 much as this C170-2 is an evolution on the original platform – and it has been significantly updated (it’s a 1-yo platform based on a 9-yo original design – much like how Toyota and Honda design cars!). The SES version is probably even harder to distinguish for most from the Mazda3. What is noticeable is the top hat and interior design – which frankly is not nearly as elegant as its cousing across the pond, but neither of those is tied to the platform – that’s all the designers.
Honestly, most Americans don’t have taste and the ones that do don’t usually shop for $25k compact Fords – they shop for Minis, 3-series, A4s, ISs, etc. What this Focus will help is raising Ford’s small car standard a bit (mostly through SYNC). Ford needed to have a higher transaction price on its vehicle to bring the C1-2 here in 2010, and now they have it. And we enthusiasts will get our C1-2 in about 2 years.
Who knoew this steaming turd would actually sell.
Of course, it probably has nothing to do with the actual car itself and rather the 5 LED that change color and the ability to talk to your radio. Gimmicks sell…but I would MUCH rather have a Cobalt. Less gimmicks and more MPG.
I do think SYNC is helping Ford out a lot here, both in terms of number of units sold, and in average transaction price (which helps them at least break even on these).
But Ford’s current problem is falling sales of F-150s, Expeditions, and Explorers, which is where the money is for them, not in the Focus. Detroit has already lost to the imports in pretty much every category of car, and the slight uptick here is not reversing that. They are also losing in the minivan, small pickup, and small SUV categories. The bigger pickups and SUVs is their last stand.
March sales:
Focus: 21,168
Corolla: 25,109 (plus 12,953 Yarises and 2,518 Scion xDs)
Civic: 32,740 (plus 6,835 Fits)
I guess I should add Chrysler and GM’s small car sales too:
March sales:
Cobalt: 13,756 (plus 1,546 G5s and 3,693 Aveos)
Caliber: 9,509 (plus 5,305 PT Cruisers)
So, when comparing with the rest of Detroit, Ford’s doing great. When comparing with Japan’s Big Two…not so much.
I considered Focus for a while. Then they pulled the plug on the wagon. Bad move, Ford – it made a decent mini-hauler.
Wow, if SYNC is luring people into buying this turd, goes to show you the largely untapped potential of good in-car consumer electronics.
I’m happy that the Focus is selling well. No other domestic car in that class gets mileage as good as the Focus. That’s the one bright spot for Ford. The Focus is pretty economical. I still won’t own one because I feel that compact sedans are a waste of potential utility. Give me a hatchback any day.
If only they still made the hatch and wagon…
Bodystyle availability used to differentiate the Focus from the Corolla and others.
If this is supposed to be popular as an alternative to a large vehicle then at least let me use the space! I cannot haul much in a sedan.
As someone who’s owned a series of Fords and is actively shopping this segment, I want to like the Focus. I really do. But while it’s certainly the best domestic small car on the market, it’s still in third place on my list behind the Mazda3 (second) and the Civic (first.) It’s ugly, feels cheap, and maybe it’s lingering bad feelings dating back to an ’89 Mercury Topaz, but I just don’t trust domestic four-cylinder engines. The Focus does have the advantage of being a great deal cheaper than the others, and given that I tend to keep cars forever I’m not that concerned about depreciation – but I think for the same money I’d rather have a used Civic.
Most Focuses sold don’t even have Sync. People are buying it because it’s inexpensive, efficient, from an American brand, and has recently been refreshed. How long of a run did the Focus from 2000 have? No wonder the new Focus is selling much better YTD.
Why can’t they just bring in the Euro Focus? Sure the sync will help sell a few this year, but if they don’t keep updating the technology they’ll quickly lose ground again.
They can’t bring in the Euro Focus because they spent so much on this redesign: I believe around $10 billion dollars or some outrageous number; they at least have to make some money off of that development time before they kill it off. As soon as they can I’ll bet Ford is going to start the new Focus off in the U.S.
I see a lot of people on this and other sites getting angry at Ford for not bringing the Euro model over, but for what it’s worth, I like the U.S. model too. Saw it at our local Ford dealer, seemed like a sturdy little car, if not the best little car I’ve ever seen. Interior is more conventional than the Honda’s and I think it looks better in person too.
The Focus will sell because Americans would rather have an ugly-but-unique car than one that just “blends in”. The Corolla is bland and normal-looking, the Honda is similarly bland, and I’d have to argue even the Mazda3 is somewhat normal, boring fare. The Focus is bland but unusual with the two-bar grille and headlights, which is part of why Americans are buying it, in my opinion. And, this car also tends to get more positive looks than many other ugly cars like the redesigned Scion xB.
Even when they bring over the Euro Focus, I’ll bet it’s going to look very different from the European model to stand it out from the crowd here. I hope it comes over in several bodystyles, including hatchbacks, wagons, sedans and coupes. And I think it might work if they made it AWD too and used it for the Escape’s platform. Good luck on the new Focus Ford.
Not until it grows a hatch.
I have sold 3 08 Focus’s at full sticker in the last 3 weeks. People love them. We are selling everything from a base S to a loaded SES ($20,930!!!). And Ford isn’t giving them away like last year. Rebates are 1/2 what they were a year ago. 0% for 60m plus $1000 rebate makes an easy Focus sale…
Ford did not spend $10 billion on this redesign. The entire C1 effort probably cost around $2-3 billion. When they did a ground up of the F-150 in 2004, that entire engineering, design and retool cost them $3 billion. This redesign is estimated to have cost somewhere around $500 million.
I would consider Focus, but only if they were to offer the wagon again
http://www.ford.co.uk/spg/getImage.asp?imageName=SPG_3_28_0_35389.jpg&filename=lrggal_Ranger2.jpg
Why is ABS an option on any car at this point? I’ve checked edmunds and every model/trim level of the Focus lists it as an option.
I want to like it, its OK from rear, ugly grill, no hatch or wagon, waiting for Fiesta and 2009 mazda3. Mazda wins eiher way.
Although I might buy an A3 on Friday. For 2x a Focus.
No euro focus as mentioned 1,000 times before, its too expensive for US. Who would buy a $30,000 focus in US. I.e. who would buy a $30,000 Subaru? Well maybe Ford could use a halo car that is euro-based along with pony car but it wont be $19k.
Ford did not spend $10 billion on this redesign. The entire C1 effort probably cost around $2-3 billion. When they did a ground up of the F-150 in 2004, that entire engineering, design and retool cost them $3 billion. This redesign is estimated to have cost somewhere around $500 million.
Wow.
Argument defeated.
Ford, just bring us the Euro Focus, this is stupid. You should have this one and that one at the same time. Just rebadge Mazda 3’s or something.
Buick61:
As ugly as it is, it definitely grew on me. If I needed a car in this segment, this car would be near the top of my list: inexpensive, great MPGs, SYNC, low-emissions, and best of all, Built in the USA.
Don’t forget the high depreciation.
FYI, the Corolla is built in the USA too.
limmin:
Lotsa people will be joining the Ford family, and staying for life.
I highly doubt that. A lot of people are being attracted to the Focus by gimmicks. People are interested in the Focus because of the SYNC bandwagon. Once SYNC is no longer exclusive, or once competitors unveil their own SYNC-like systems, people will jump off the bandwagon and Focus sales will decrease.
Gimmicks only help sales in the short term. In the long term, and especially in such troubled economic times, people will focus a lot of whether it’s an inherently good car, which the Focus is not. Apart from SYNC and fuel economy, there’s nothing inherently “good” about the Focus. The Mazda 3 is the most fun/best-handling in the class, the Corolla has a huge reputation and is the most refined/comfortable in the class, and the Civic is a swiss army knife sort of car that does everything quite well.
I’m going to wait another 6 months before I call the redesigned Focus a sales success. I’m not very impressed with the design and it will be interesting to see if Ford can sustain the sales increase for a longer period of time.
Blastman:
I’m going to wait another 6 months before I call the redesigned Focus a sales success. I’m not very impressed with the design and it will be interesting to see if Ford can sustain the sales increase for a longer period of time.
Exactly. Far too early to be jumping to any conclusions as of yet.
If you want to buy a US compact car the Focus is the best of the bunch. Also, Toyota has Corolla waiting lists right now due to the model changeover.
Personally my money is on Ford to be the one of the 2.8 which comes out of the current crisis in the best shape. Chrysler gets my vote for Most Likely To Fold It’s Tent First.
Ford was a profitable company for many years with trucks at 25% of their sales, they simply need to relearn how to do it.
The Focus and Fusion are certainly on the right track. Now they need to get the Taurus in the sales hunt and they will have a strong offering of small, medium and large cars. The next step is to bring back coupe, hatchback and wagon variants where possible. Put the new ecoboost technologies to work and Ford will have a very strong model lineup.
The F150 can go back on a 10-15 year platform refresh cycle with the occasional trim changes to distinguish model years.
The Transit Connect project looks like a good platform to move into the more efficient commercial vehicle market.
The lucky thing for Ford is that they have the platforms and technologies in Europe and Japan to meet the needs and desires of a fuel cost conscious customer. Ford also has a rational US brand lineup because the Mercury products are just a nose and trim job. Ditch Volvo, fix Lincoln and keep Mercury as a high level trim option built off Ford platforms. Lincoln also needs to run on Ford platforms as most of it’s vehicles have for many, many decades. Load ’em up with comfort and glitz, but keep the platforms common.
GM is much, much further away from having a rational approach to brands than Ford is.