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Thread: Ford Focus 2011-12

  1. #31
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    Quote Originally Posted by cmcpokey View Post
    it excites me that we may have a tolerable american small car. while i am not in the market for one, i have been longing for the day when we get the same quality you guys do over there. now if only we got the ST and RS
    We are finally seeing a genuine "World car" here. Ford tried with the first Focus, with limited success, but there were a massive amount of differences between the European market cars and those sold in North America. In this case, it appears that the car has been designed from the start to meet the legislative criteria of most of its' intended markets without so many specific modifications.

    Another interesting point is that whilst a D-segment car is the average size of a car in Europe, it's considered small in places like Australia and the U.S. I wonder how long it will be before the current craze for being "green" and the increasing price of fuel will affect the size of vehicles that consumers actually purchase.

    Quote Originally Posted by Matra et Alpine View Post
    wth .. that is UGLY and a dogs-dinner of differing designs.
    WOrst that screams "bad desgin" is the different look in the side profile for the rear and front wheel arches.
    The rear is reminiscen tof the Mazda style where the front remidns me of the 70s Alfa.
    Front and rear designed wiuth NO synergy and just don't# fit together.

    I give it a year and their will be a "mid-life update" to correct that faux-pas.
    It better handle well or it's doomed in the UK
    I totally agree Peter. There are some nice / different design touches in there, but there's no consistency and they don't gel together as a whole - it's almost as if someone photoshopped those images using various parts from lots of different cars...and the interior is just as bad - it's a mess and it'd take hours to find some of the more minor controls it's so busy in there.

    And I know I keep mentioning it...but why the hell do the designers keep sticking HUGE grilles on the front of new designs now? The nose looks like a cross between an angry dragon from a Japanese cartoon and Gordon Ramsay's orgasm face. The new Astra and Golf don't look like this.

    Quote Originally Posted by ZeTurbo View Post
    i dont get it... why go the trouble of developing a new focus....
    I take it you mean "for the American market"? - If so, see my answer below.

    Quote Originally Posted by ZeTurbo View Post
    ...when there is an a great one one allready sold in europe? are the market demands so far a part? how can mercedes, audi, toyota, honda, mazda etc sell the same cars (though with different engines) in europe & north america and ford cant? what the hell? Didn't ford just do that with the fiesta? what is so peculiar about the european Focus thant CANT be brought to NA?

    EDIT: btw, it is a definite improvement over the current focus, but still not pretty.. where is the 2door hatch anyways?
    From reading the info in the original post, I think this design is intended as a World Car (to replace the current versions of the Focus in both Europe AND North America). The current NA Focus looks, to be frank, rubbish, and the European one is due for replacement anyway (partly because the competition has clearly surpassed it).
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  2. #32
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    Quote Originally Posted by ruim20 View Post
    So this will be the chassis of the new Euro Focus as well? Maybe new look as well, like an inverted Fiesta process?
    This is the new euro focus, it will look largely unchanged when it is revealed at euro auto shows.
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  3. #33
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    That looks good.
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  4. #34
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    The Mondeo/Contour was there before the Focus as a world car for Ford but that ended being a flop. Maybe there's an even earlier example, but I can't remember right now.

    Apparently next is the Mondeo, being designed as a world car at the US. I don't, know at least in Europe Ford seems to me to be losing it a bit.
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  5. #35
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ferrer View Post
    The Mondeo/Contour was there before the Focus as a world car for Ford but that ended being a flop. Maybe there's an even earlier example, but I can't remember right now.

    Apparently next is the Mondeo, being designed as a world car at the US. I don't, know at least in Europe Ford seems to me to be losing it a bit.
    The Ford Fusion in the US is very successful...I can't see Ford reintroducing the Mondeo here mucking up the waters in their current pipeline. At least not for a couple more years as the Fusion ages.

    Do you have a time line for the Mondeo?

  6. #36
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dino Scuderia View Post
    The Ford Fusion in the US is very successful...I can't see Ford reintroducing the Mondeo here mucking up the waters in their current pipeline. At least not for a couple more years as the Fusion ages.

    Do you have a time line for the Mondeo?
    They won't replace the fusion they just will combine the model's so that it will be the same car but sold as different names in europe and the usa.

    The new Mondeo is due in 2014 with a refresh happening this year
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  7. #37
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dino Scuderia View Post
    The Ford Fusion in the US is very successful...I can't see Ford reintroducing the Mondeo here mucking up the waters in their current pipeline. At least not for a couple more years as the Fusion ages.

    Do you have a time line for the Mondeo?
    I believe the Mondeo is due to be replaced in late 2011 or early 2012.

    However, it's not Ford reintroducing the Mondeo, since it's being designed and engineered in the US it's more like introducing the Fusion in Europe.

    EDIT By the way, are Fords dynamically as highly regarded in the US as they are in Europe?
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  8. #38
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    Quote Originally Posted by henk4 View Post
    They could actually put in the engine that is running underneath my bonnet....would suit American driving style perfectly.
    It would, but from my experience in the US (last visit was July '09) you wouldn't save much, if any money by running a diesel due to the fact that diesel is quite a bit more expensive than petrol.

    - The best option for Americans would be an efficient petrol engine or, in the future (for non-enthusiasts), electric cars using the latest (lightweight etc.) battery technology.
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  9. #39
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    Quote Originally Posted by Clivey View Post
    It would, but from my experience in the US (last visit was July '09) you wouldn't save much, if any money by running a diesel due to the fact that diesel is quite a bit more expensive than petrol.
    As I said earlier, it surely would safe fuel, not necessarily money.
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  10. #40
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    Quote Originally Posted by Clivey View Post
    It would, but from my experience in the US (last visit was July '09) you wouldn't save much, if any money by running a diesel due to the fact that diesel is quite a bit more expensive than petrol.

    - The best option for Americans would be an efficient petrol engine or, in the future (for non-enthusiasts), electric cars using the latest (lightweight etc.) battery technology.
    Why do you guys always forget about Canada?!

    I was at the gas station and actually thought to look at the price of diesel. As I recall, gas was 97.5 and diesel 99.9 - so a very minor difference. I shall try to note the diesel price more often in future.

    I believe it's been discussed before on UCP that diesel prices in the US vary widely - though I could be wrong.

  11. #41
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    The fact that a diesel engine may not save your money never prevented people from buying hybrids when driving for 10.000 miles per year.

    And if any of you want to die laughing, do the math to check how much one should drive a Tesla Roadster to have spent the same amount of money if he had bought an Elise R.

    SPOILER ALERT! answer at the end in white: with an average petrol price of 1,345 € per liter here in Italy, a price difference of 52.000 €, a declared combined mileage of 8,5 liters/100 km for the Lotus and an equivalent mileage of 2 liters/100 km for the Tesla (source: EPA), over 600.000 km seems to be the answer.

    And even if the Tesla is quicker on the 0-60 mph sprint, it's also 370 kg heavier, and considerably slower on a track, which should be the point of such chassis you'd say...

    I'm not against hybrids (heck, I'm writing my thesis on them) or electric cars (checked them too), but quite often, and pretty obviously, it's only about the hype and the status symbol rather than saving the planet or your wallet.
    We already discussed about that, just it should let us wondering why it didn't work with diesel engines (States side that is).
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  12. #42
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    Quote Originally Posted by henk4 View Post
    As I said earlier, it surely would safe fuel, not necessarily money.
    Oh I agree with you without question regarding that. However, there are generally two main reasons that people cite as to why they prefer diesels:

    1. They save money because diesel engines usually use less fuel than their petrol counterparts

    2. Some perceive diesels to be "greener" than the equivalent petrol
    However, I seem to recall reading that burning diesel is in fact far worse for the environment than burning petrol. Do you (or does anyone else) have any facts?

    Now from my experience, saving money matters more to most people than tailpipe emissions because they feel the effects of saving money instantly, whereas it takes far longer before they feel the consequences of their tailpipe emissions.

    However if you're really serious about preserving the current environment and Earth's natural resources, the best option is to invest in new technology and move way from IC engines entirely.

    Quote Originally Posted by Kitdy View Post
    Why do you guys always forget about Canada?!
    I said "from my experience in the US" - The only experience I have of Canada was the inside of Gander Airport whilst the plane refuelled en-route to Florida.

    Quote Originally Posted by Kitdy View Post
    I was at the gas station and actually thought to look at the price of diesel. As I recall, gas was 97.5 and diesel 99.9 - so a very minor difference. I shall try to note the diesel price more often in future.
    That's actually less of a difference than here - at the moment petrol is around 10% cheaper than diesel here. - That means that drivers in your region have more to gain than us by switching to a fuel efficient diesel...

    ...although seeing as fuel is comparatively cheap in Canada, I'd stick with the greater driving pleasure offered by a nice petrol engine.

    I just wanted to add: This is going waaaay off topic here, so shall we continue this discussion in a different thread?
    Last edited by Clivey; 01-20-2010 at 03:17 PM.
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  13. #43
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    Quote Originally Posted by LeonOfTheDead View Post
    The fact that a diesel engine may not save your money never prevented people from buying hybrids when driving for 10.000 miles per year.
    Or diesels for that matter.
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  14. #44
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ferrer View Post
    Or diesels for that matter.
    I was contextualizing the situation in the States, but yes, the point is the same.
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  15. #45
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ferrer View Post
    I believe the Mondeo is due to be replaced in late 2011 or early 2012.

    However, it's not Ford reintroducing the Mondeo, since it's being designed and engineered in the US it's more like introducing the Fusion in Europe.

    EDIT By the way, are Fords dynamically as highly regarded in the US as they are in Europe?
    If they put a Mondeo badge on it and sell it next to a Fusion then it is diluting the product mix. The Fusion is already a bit too close to the size of the new Taurus. Both cars enjoying spirited sales for now.

    I wouldn't say Ford's are necessarily highly regarded, they are just currently enjoying a resurgence partly out of respect that they didn't have to take bail-out money and partly because people like the new cars they have.

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