While FoMoCo puts lipstick on Volvo in hopes of a quick sale, it's quietly bringing several Ford Europe models to the U.S. in the hopes of reinvigorating small car and crossover sales. The Ford Fiesta imminent arrival is no secret, but Automotive News [sub] is reporting that Ford's next U.S. Focus will be European engineered on the global C1 platform. Ford's C-Max and Kuga– a pair of C1-based crossovers reflecting minivan and SUV influences (respectively) in the segment– will join their Euro brethren on this side of the pond. AN Europe [sub] spoke with Ford America President Mark Fields, who confirmed the importation schedule. "We really have to have the right cadence (and) marry up the cadence of freshenings between Europe, Asia-Pacific and North America," says Fields. "Leveraging scale by using common suppliers, you can't have one part of the world freshening a vehicle and assuming a year later another part of the world will do that." The range of FoMoCo's "Kinetic Design" kids heralds the demise of the current, lamentable Ameri-Focus and aged Escape. And not a moment too soon. But is it soon enough?
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I had a chance to drive the Cmax.
It would be a dream come true here in the US.
Thing is, mine was a diesel.
These are the questions we have been asking for years…or at least since Mazda found a way to give us the 3.
If Mazda could, why can’t Ford?
How come we kept getting the old worn out Focus?
By the way, that design team and Ford European leadership is really something.
Great job.
I’m fine with importing European Fords, but do they have to use a raft? Wouldn’t a cargo ship be better?
I thought Mazda has been selling us European Fords for a while now. Isn’t the Mazda5 the same as an S-Max? Just curious…
where the hell are they going to import them from? Mexico? I doubt we’re getting German-made Focii and Kuga’s…not at these exchange rates. Ford will never make a buck off of any of them.
They don’t neccessarily have to be imported. But the new models, like the Focus or Escape replacement, CAN be built in the US. Retool the factories as with any new model and produce the same product as in other countries.
I’d like to know what the cost difference would be between an identical US made Ford and a EU made Ford…in terms of labor costs, engineering costs, currency rates, etc. Which one would be more cost-effective to sell in the states.
I’m just concerned that this plan to “bring over” Euro-inspired/designed Ford’s will flop, as is the case with Saturn.
My fear is that these Euro-Fords may not connect with the average American. We’re a finicky lot.
DT
I know VW has in several markets shipped in “knocked down” vehicles and then just assembled them in the foreign market in VW factories. Maybe Ford is going to bring in the tooling and everything and build an Euro-design here.
All I want is for Ford to export the diesel Focus…at “only” 45mpg (see previous green car discussion), it would be the bee’s knees. Of course, it’s never-ever gonna’ happen.
These will be assembled in North America, and replace the current Focus.
@Busbodger: it’s the Ford I-MAX for Asian markets that’s the Mazda5/Ford C1 badge-engineered clone, the wider/longer Ford S-Max is on the updated EUCD platform.
I don’t see the magic word: Mondeo
SherbornSean
I hadn’t genuinely laughed at anything on the internet all day, until just now. Thanks
TEXN3: “They don’t neccessarily have to be imported. But the new models, like the Focus or Escape replacement, CAN be built in the US. Retool the factories as with any new model and produce the same product as in other countries.”
Hopefully they’ll avoid the mistake they made with the original Focus, to wit: Take a superb Euro Ford, let the Ford NA cost engineers let have their wicked way with it, then sit back and watch the recalls come rolling in.
Sammy…I am with you.
Bring me my choice of diesels.
I am not sure, but reading all of the reports, nothing is really clear about the production.
Bringing over could mean built or just the designs.
I think the exchange is a problem.
Same thing right now with the Saturn Opel import.
I believe they are losing with each sale.
Am I correct?
This great news for the yanks, but I’m telling you now, you’re in for a big disappointment.
These Euro Fords aren’t that great. They’re standard at best. I drove 2 Ford Focuses for work and I’ve never felt so underwhelmed. The car felt underpowered, it handled like a tank, the interior was cheap & depressing and the fuel economy who poor. I can only think about how poor the US Focuses are!
The Mondeo is a good looking car, but I wouldn’t want one.
P.S Doesn’t Mark Fields talk some shit?! Has this guy said ANYTHING of substance? Look on youtube for his “simplexity” speech!
Ford diesel in a small car? It might be nice, but I don’t think it will happen.
Diesel is currently averaging 20% more costly than regular unleaded. Also, I suspect that diesel prices are even more inelastic than gasoline, so that 20% discrepancy could increase in a heartbeat.
I’m not sure we’ll see future diesel prices lower than gasoline prices like has been the case in the past. Diesel used to be cheap because it was cheap to refine and there wasn’t as much demand. Not any more (especially with the low-sulfur requirements). Diesel engines have also gotten more pricey because of the added pollution requirements.
Judging by GM marketing, there are still people in the USA who think E85 is a better deal than unleaded simply because the price is lower. That same thinking–but in reverse–is going to make diesel a hard sell at 20% higher cost (even if you wind up getting 25% to 40% better mileage per gallon).
How do the CAFE rules treat diesel vehicles? That might be one reason for diesel in the future.
So, yes, C1-2 Focus will be built at Wayne. C1-2 Escape (nee Kuga) will be built at KC. They are preparing overflow production in Mexico where the Fiesta will be produced.
The C1-2 Focus development actually is interesting. Supposedly, U.S. engineers took the existing C1 and made updates that would make the platform more adaptable for the U.S. and Asian markets. Then the basic designs were shipped back to Europe for full engineering. The result will be a platform that should be slightly less expensive and more flexible than the current C1, yet have better dynamics overall.
There’s no ground up change here (C2 isn’t due until 2016), but U.S. engineers are hands off except in a few areas. There will still be some slight style differences like the Fiesta, but most of it will be to accomodate the different impact requirements for the U.S. versus EU. So, all indications suggest this will not be anything like Ford’s first attempt to bring the Focus here.
The Fusion and Mondeo (and S-Max and Edge) will merge onto Ford’s updated midsize platform in 2012 for the 2013 MY. But don’t worry, the 2010 Fusion will hold its own – just wait.
KP: “The Mondeo is a good looking car…”
Oh look, Katie said something nice about a Ford.
KP: “…but I wouldn’t want one.”
Wait. Never mind.
@KatiePuckrik
Sure, the Euro Focus isn’t the bees knees, but have you driven a US Focus? The Euro version far surpasses the US version; that should tell you how bad we have it here.
KatiePuckrik,
You drive a Yaris, right?
RobertSD..
This is indeed interesting information.
First, how did you get it.
Second, will the new Fusion be similar to the soon to be released Mazda6?
I am wondering about the ecoboost turboas and where they will fit into this.
I am disturbed because the supposed specs released here in the link below show somewhat disappointing mileage.
I was hoping the Fords (and Mazdas) would become better and somewhere in the 30s hwy mpg.
specs:
http://www.leftlanenews.com/mazda6.html
You can find that info on Ford fan forums.
Mulally seems to be staying true to his One Ford mantra of using global platforms to build global vehicles.
Ford was to have done this back in the 1990s when the “Ford 2000” reorganization supposedly established a global engineering organization. Maybe now they will actually do it.
Ford is sticking to three platforms for everything worldwide – a Volvo S80, the Mazda 6, and the Mazda 3.
In short, Ford becomes the company of a thousand rebadges – the American car is dead.
Why not just buy a Japanese car, rather than a copy of a Japanese car?
I’m not an economist or a business guy, but it doesn’t make sense to sell a C-Max for 20k USD (a guessimate) in America when the same vehicle would go for 16k pounds in the UK. Right?
@taxman… What?!? The Mazda3 is sourced from Ford’s C1 platform. The Mazda6 (EU) is built on Ford’s EUCD – as is Volvo’s new S80. The platform I assume you’re referring to with the Volvo is the D platforms that have basically been updated so many times that it’s no longer Volvo sourced or maintained.
As to the previous question… I don’t know what the Fusion will get in the way of gas mileage, but Mazda opted to use their 2.5 and the current 5-speed auto in the 6 (for now). Ford’s 2.5 in the Escape is expected to return 21/27-8 or so with its six-speed auto. Given that the Fusion is more aerodynamic and lighter, I would assume 21/31 is a safe bet and 22/31-32 is possible. Mazda is also using their 3.7 and Ford will be using their 3.0 PIP. The Fusion will likely get 19/29 like the rest of the V6s in the class, maybe slightly better (I’ve heard 30 mpg hwy was the target).
And yes, you can learn a lot about GM and Ford and *manufacturer’s name* future plans from the fan boards. Some of the info is off, much of it is right, but you have to parse through carefully and figure out who normally gets it and who doesn’t.
RobertSD But why is the 4 cyl in the new 6 only being rated at 29. Is this the auto trans? Should we expect the standard to be 30,31??? Surely this should be 31 with a 6 speed trans. Very disappointing to me. I was sooo waiting for this.
By the way, the specs in the link I sent show the M6 getting the 2.7 now in the CX9.
Here it is again from a survey sent by Mazda to certain customers.
http://www.leftlanenews.com/mazda6.html
I’m not an oracle of Mazda knowledge, but the 2010 Fusion is not using the same engine or transmission as the 2009 Mazda6 if I’ve read the tea leaves correctly. That said, we don’t eve know that those numbers are final. They were part of a survey that might have estimated numbers as opposed to real numbers (they look suspiciously like 2008’s EPA stats). I’d wait until Mazda or the EPA actually releases figures, then we can complain about the 6’s gas mielage.
However, the 2010 Fusion launching in January of 2009 is expected to be somewhere around 21-22/31-32.
The decision to do this was so obvious its hard to congratulate Ford for it, however I congratulate Ford for it. I completely underestimated Mullaly. As simple as it sounds to make a decision like, ‘hey lets not build 4 different platforms of the same size and performance that share no parts’, it is quite a feat to make that happen in Ford’s (former?)byzantine bureaucracy. It really makes me wonder what the hell they’re doing over at GM and Chrysler…
I’m disappointed that TTAC’s scribes swallow this Ford BS like every other automtoive journalist out thre.
No one, I repeat no one, makes the same car for Europe and the US. Not BMW, not Mercedes, not Audi, and certainly not FOrd. But Ford keeps trying, and failing.
The first Focus was supposed to be a European car, but by the time it met the US standards and the US tastes, it shared fewer than 10% of it’s parts with the Euro version.
Remember the Contour (nee Mondeao)? The Five Hundred (nee Volvo)? The 2 seater Capri (nee Mazda)? The Mercury Tracer (nee Mazda)? The Probe (nee Mazda)?
And so on.
If nothing else, the seats will have to be completely different, and that’s a big chunk of the car.
I once studied the teardown of 3 Toyota Corollas, a US version, the Euro version, and the home market version. There were, literally, no common parts. Eventhe emblemns were colored differently. The Corolla remains a success not because of any common engineering, but because Toyota makes the best car they can for each market.
I was at the BMW plant in Munich last summer, where they explained (in a condesending manner to an inept American who didn’t speak German) how they make each 3 series differnetly for each market. The floor pans are differnet for a US model,, and the differneces go from there. Again, BMW is successful because every BMW is targeted to be the best for the market they are in. BMW does use the same emblem on all 3 series.
“Common platforms” is bullshit from top people who knownothing about actually making cars, and are trying to hide that fact from the public and from the stockholders.
Bob
C’mon lk8900 – no personal attacks.
I think Katie under estimates how “bad” the American Focus is compared to what they get in Europe.
We don’t get the wagon anymore. We don’t get the hatchback version anymore. The Euro-Focus is better looking.
So we get the less useful sedan that is uglier to boot. No thanks.
Focus used to be on my short list but not without a hatchback.