April15
The newest Ford Focus may not be the best looking sedan on the market, but its combination of budget pricing, excellent fuel economy and SYNC availability are apparently striking a chord with consumers. On Tuesday Ford announced that it will be ramping up Focus production by 30 percent in 2008 to keep up with demand.
According to Ford, the Michigan-based automaker has sold 49,070 Focuses during the first three months of the year, a 23 percent increase over the same time period a year before. More importantly, retail sales were up 35 percent while fleet sales continue to decline.
Ford sold 191,000 Focuses in 2007, but plans to sell 245,000 in 2008. In order to keep up with demand, employees of Ford’s Wayne assembly plant — where the Focus is produced — will be working overtime and Saturdays for the rest of the year.
Hmm..Interesting. I thought nobody would buy it ,since its redesign is only skin deep. Apparently people are dumber than I thought.
I definitely noticed what I thought was a disproportionate number of these on the roads already. Guess I’m going to have to eat my words on this one. I’m not saying I understand, but kudos to Ford nonetheless.
Good for Ford but I can see the board room now…
People love this POS we dont need need to replace the Focus with a better euro version. Man our customers are stupid! Yay for us!
Oh, I forgot to add one more comment from the board room…
RAISES FOR EVERYONE!!!
Actually good little cars - just u g l y.
Boost production–two words that haven’t been in Ford’s vocabulary for quite a long time. I guess it makes sense that this car is relatively popular. It really wasn’t a bad car before the redesign. I think Consumer Reports ranked third in the segment after the Mazda 3 and the Civic. They better do a proper redesign next time, however, because I would like to buy one if we were to get the Euro version. If not, hello Honda.
As a longtime Honda owner, every time they made the Accord and Civic a little bigger and less enthusiast orientated I bitched about the new one. Which they always sold more of, BTW. This is actually a pretty decent deal for someone who doesn’t require something sporty and/ or interesting. Whoever that might be, there’s a lot of them, I guess.
“Good for Ford but I can see the board room now…”
Exactly what I was afraid of as well. I can see them drawing ALL the WRONG conclusions from this car’s success…
I, too, think this car is terribly ugly, and thought it wouldn’t do very well in the market.
But their advertizing strategy seems to be good, which stresses affordability and fuel economy. And the car does look “new”, albeit not particularly attractive. Perhaps, for the price, it’s fooling people.
All I know is that, on top of tooling that’s long since been amortized, boosted overall sales, and boosted retail sales (and therefore transaction costs), Ford’s got to be making a lot of money due to the fact that they’re offering only half the bodystyles they used to, which improves economies of scale (same roof stamping) AND reduced production complexity.
I just hope that Ford doesn’t think they can sit on their backsides with this 9 season-old car. We need something truly new and competitive.
I’m sure that their strategy is the same as GM’s was with the Aveo/Cobalt vs. Cavalier…sell the old compact at bargain prices until production of their subcompact gets going. The subcompact will then be trusted to mop up the low-price shoppers, and then they can debut an all-new compact with more expensive architecture, at a higher price.
“newest Ford Focus may not be the best looking sedan on the market, but its combination of budget pricing, excellent fuel economy and SYNC availability are apparently striking a chord with consumers”
This pretty much describes the popularity of the Prius as well - substituting Toyota’s voice recognition system for SYNC of course. (And bumping up both the price and mpg by 50%).
HUH?? really? Enterprize must be renting the hell out of these
there New slogan is. Will pick you up….. in a Ford Focus
One of the most haphazardly designed cars ever. Some Americans have zip in the taste department.
Why would anyone buy this over a Civic?
“Why would anyone buy this over a Civic?”
Obviously price is a big one.
I think the rear actually looks pretty nice. The front, although not exactly consistent with the rest of the car or with other Ford cars, isn’t terrible but not great. The profile and overall look is a bit awkward though, especially for the coupe. The coupe’s profile reminds me of something from the 80’s.
And don’t forget some people think the new Civic is also ugly.
I’m curious how many of you have seen it in person, as I’m guessing it’s been on the road for a while now and so you probably have seen a few…
But it actually looks really good, aside from the front end. I don’t know what they were thinking with the front, it looks as cheap and ugly as all get out, but from most other angles it looks better than the last generation. Especially the rear, I really like the tail lights. However, I am dissapointed they discontinued the hot hatch/wagon, which I thought the hot hatch was selling well, and that they went more mainstream, selling a coupe and 4 door sedan. The coupe looks sorta disproportioned, but then again I’m into a vehicles looks quite a bit so…
The last generation was a really nice car, and very fun to drive. I don’t know what you guys are talking about, as boring as a straight line and stuff, but it’s zippy, gets great gas mileage and is responsive. Drove one not to long ago, a girl who works over at the Chevrolet dealership (kind of ironic, but it’s not that unusual) bought one just before the design. They got a lot of things right, especially the interior, and the new one is even better with that. This new generation isn’t just a re badge of the last generation, they’ve made some major changes.
Did you not see the ” More importantly, retail sales were up 35 percent while fleet sales continue to decline.” No more rental sales will lead to much higher resale value. Not to mention the 2010 model will be the euro focus that so many of you have been crying about. Its almost like all you import fanboys won’t have anything to bitch about soon.
that coupe looks nice.
LLN — suggested edit:
“The newest Ford Focus may not be the best-looking sedan on the market, but its combination of budget pricing, excellent fuel economy, SYNC availability and the lack of any competitors save the Mazda3 are apparently striking a chord with consumers.
“Fleet sales continue to decline.” (imitating Strother Martin) Which is the way ford wants it!
GIUGIK1: the people who are buying the Focus, instead of other compacts, are smarter than you think.
Pauly: don’t ever bring up Consumer Reports and expect to be taken seriously.
To wit:
CR is staffed by these middle-aged bearded assholes that test drive everything and then go home in their Corollas and old Tercels to some smelly shack in rural CT or Vermont, where they chow down on alfalfa sprouts and rent Michael Moore videos. Don’t listen to anything they say. They’re a bunch of ****sucking tools.
Comment by deantj, posted on June29 at 2:07 pm
rsg: yep, the civic is now bigger than the accord used to be.
inline6: smart post at 519p on the 15th
LaCaLover: “Why would anyone buy this over a Civic?” Your rhetorical question sounds a lot better if you take out the words “this” and “over.’
And don’t forget s
Comment by gizmo2: “some people think the new Civic is also ugly …” and cramped, and too loud, and low-quality.
I’ve seen it in person and it’s pretty ugly. It’s nothing more than an econobox, strictly for students.
I don’t think it’s a bad car, and I’m told it performs well, but the styling is ****ing botched. That being said, as usual people will buy whatever is available. After all, why does the Camry sell in droves when it looks like a manatee?
Had one for a rental a few weeks ago. Plain jane like any rental, but drove sweet. Lots of bang for the buck.
Ford brand club need to buy something. They would prefer F150, but gas prices started to eat into bear budget, so what another 4 cylinder Ford out there?
I have been seeing a lot of these around, and they’re fairly inoffensive, but it’s just so unambitious, even compared to its competition, so, “Ok, guys, stop drawing… It’s good enough…”
A few days ago, I saw a now discontinued Ford SVT Focus, and even today, it looks gorgeous, aggressive, and innovative. Thinking of what we have now, I nearly cried…
it is a cute car. to think of it, it might not be the best looking car out there or the most refined, but it does its job well. great fuel economy, a nice low starting msrp and it has sync by microsoft.
I predicted that SYNC will drive buyers to Ford products. The Focus is odd but it is cheap and it has SYNC both of which appeal to younger drivers on a budget. A little oddness doesn’t hurt in this age group just look at some of the Scion cars for proof.
I wonder if the European Focus would have a significant price penalty compared to this one?
Damn it! That’s really strange news considering how ugly and underwhelming it is. I guess people really are stupid after all.
This car makes me disappointed in the human race.
Ford admits its not the best looking but it does have the Sync feature which you can’t get in other competing sub compacts and its a nice feature to have. And it has good fuel economy and best of all its priced right.
I think people buying it know or hope Ford will be changing it next time around.
but in the mean time for the price would you switch to an Aveo I think not. So that is fueling production for Ford maybe this will spur them to get the Global Focus over here ASAP
Knowing this is all they had to work with until a global model is available in 3 years or so, Ford did everything they could to make this look like an all-new model. That is usually enough to trick people who only buy American cars into buying one! After all, they don’t have much else to consider in the segment - Cobalt/G5, Ion and Caliber!
“CR is staffed by these middle-aged bearded assholes that test drive everything and then go home in their Corollas and old Tercels to some smelly shack…”
Rodd: and you ragged on any Honda or Toyota product that you never owned and drive your old Oldsmobile Silhouette back to home… doesn’t sound too different from the middle-aged assholes you described, not to mention a stupid thing to say for a journalist.
I’m seeing them everywhere on the street. Sure, they are an average looking econobox, but they have some flashy curb appeal as well. The Sync feature is what really sells the car as well as the 35 MPG. Its quite a package with a $2000 rebate to get you into it with 0 down and low monthlys. Good job Ford…can’t wait for the ecoboost version soon.
What Ford has done here is a time honored tradition in the auto biz only they have added a- I dare say it- brilliant twist. It is almost tradition that when one model nears the end of its cycle they load it up with previously extra cost options for very little extra cost over the previous years base model just to try and move ‘em off the lot. Great strategy that has often produced unusually robust sales of a lame duck.
Ford has in the new Focus done this right off the get go. F*cking brilliant and it’s paying dividends.
OK, I don’t know if that was their intent but it’s as good a theory as any.
‘Deanster’ and ‘MurcieMe’ nailed it … this PROVES the majority of the car buying pubic have no taste whatsoever … which also explains sales of all other unattractive vehicles … Hondas, Toyotas, Subarus.
To me the exterior styling is a haphazard mess of arcs and characterless character lines which bears NO family resemblance to any other Ford product.
The interior is even worse with that huge swathe of sliver plastic covering almost the Entire dashboard and centre console. It’s tacky. It’s just as bad as a Jeep Compass in there. It looks and feels notably worse than what it replaced.
I really liked the styling of the Focus before this downgrade. It’s looked both sporty and substantial and could be made to look much more expensive than it was. It had crisp, clean lines that made sense. Unlike some of it’s competitors (Cobalt, Neon etc) it looked like a REAL car, not just a ‘this is all we can afford’ car.
To get out of an older Focus and get into the new one there is no possible way anyone can like it more UNLESS THEY’RE STUPID. And as the article clearly indicates there’s a whole lot of stupid people out there . . .
why are u naysayers bitichin, it keeps American workers at work…if the thing is built here orginally anyways, good job ford and great new commercials too
ford dealers are stupid, i stopped with my Silverado SS to take an interest in a preowned RX-8 and they try and pitch a focus to me over and over. I DONT WANT ONE
Fix the front end and its passable.
However, that interior is vomit inducing.
A4- Most good car dealers…or at least the smart ones would try to sell you what you want. God knows there was alot more gross profit in that used Mazda than in a new Focus. Don’t beat up on all Ford dealers…just this dumbass salesperson you dealt with!!
My ‘03 Focus SVT looked waaaay better than this thing. Had factory Recaros, 17’s, and H.I.D. too. They better not puss out and not bring the Euro badass versions over. FYI: At one time, the Focus RS sold in the UK for the equivalent $40,000 USD.
who wants to bet this is going to go “jeep commander” and be sitting on ford lots everywhere when the demand is much less than anticipated
a4, I’m sure there will be a ton of these left over when gas is $4 a gallon this summer.
They’re gonna need to boost the number of service techs to fix all the problems with these POS tin cans. Ford quality is terrible and their reliaility and dependibility are worse than VW or Mazda. The more people that look at the Chevy Cobalt, the less and less Focus cars will be littering the side of the road. Buy a Cobalt.
“Damn it! That’s really strange news considering how ugly and underwhelming it is. I guess people really are stupid after all.
This car makes me disappointed in the human race.”
Accords are selling well too. What makes you people think that folks wont buy an unattractive vehicle? If that were the case Toyota and Honda would barely be in business. Have you ever seen a Yaris? FJ cruiser? Pilot? Avalon? Need I go on?
Frankly, I thought this version was much better looking than the last with it’s mutant-wort wheel arches and volvo-on-crack tailights. Oh, and that interior…with all the weird ovoid shapes…keep that too. I only wish they kept the hatch, and ditched the chrome vent thing. Otherwise, it’s not bad looking, better than the spaceship they call Civic…
who are the idiots buying these things? I don’t really see that many of these new focus’s on the road, the few that I do see are driven by ugly overweight women so its obvious that those type of people are not smart enought to know the difference between a ford and a good car. The focus is ugly, cheap, unreliable, and its a ford.
nothing says ghetto like a Honda Civic- totally overpriced ****boxes prone to rust and strange parts that fall off. I had one- never again. The bumpers were held on with scotch tape. The exhaust had to be replaced twice. JAPANESE JUNKBOX.
I sat in the coupe version of the Focus at an auto show. I liked it. It was roomy and youthful. Nice small car.
The side mirrors alone look like recycled plastic from your neighbors trash.
I got in the back seat for ****s and my head hits the ceiling. What a load of crap.
You still haven’t figured it out, have you dumbass
Hey SSEAN your an idiot the Hondas will last and last ok. It does’nt count if you buy the one Honda that was driven through the okeefenokee swamp and then that is what caused your tailpipe to fall off. But your just mentioning routine maintenance on american cars too. Not general lack of quality or relibility issues you would find with a GM product.
You need examples I’ll give you a few. Chevy/GMC same thing just a different face but when you boil the GM truck down complete american garbage. They don’t last. Chevy Cobalt another fine example of how the Cavalier can live on 20 years later with the same cheap body just different cheap plastic skins every year. Bottom line they are cheap disposbale cars within a year or two of driving.
Their have got to be stiffer penalties than the current lemon laws for manufacturers selling junk like this to the dummies that buy em and find themselve on the side of the roadway calling Triple AAA or onstar for a tow.
They should be able to take by law and if necessary federal court order to have the manufacturer pay back the owner for the cost of at least pushing their GM junkpile to the nearest Automobile Junkyard and Put that POS in the clapper and Crunched it down to the rubbish it truely resembles. Then melt the 2% that is actually good into some useful material.
Meanwhile, they can take the other 98% of it as complete trash and just incinerate another GM POS so society can be done with another public eye sore on our streets!
Because generally you can run Honda, Toyotas, Nissan cars to 300,000 miles + with no major engine problems or anything else going awry.like you would with an American product. I meant ahem GM in particular. Engine Valve and Mainbearing seizes up on its first 50,000 off the dealers lots.
I’d be willing to bet MurcieMe and zoomzoomr are destined to be one of those who push their chevy cobalt to its untimely demise
GM,
What kind of a tool are you! Ford has some the best reliability figures going for almost ANY auto maker, not just domestic. http://www.blueovalnews.com/index.php?categoryid=12&p2_articleid=661
You may may to actually know what you are talking about before posting.
As much as I want to see a Euro Focus in the U.S., the first gen platform is not all that bad, just a little outdated. However, Ford has gotten it right finally, kudos to that. The only drawback is that it is one generation too late. Hey, we won’t have a comparison if Ford refuses to bring over the Euro Focus unless you count the Mazda3 which has worst gas mileage than the U.S. Focus. Gas price definitely has something to do with the sales of the Focus.
Good going FOrd if you can sell this POS then so be it.
La:
Who would choose this over a Honda Civic
Lets see…..
Someone who was a complete idiot
Someone who doesnt like rear headrests
Someone who likes techno features overthinkgs like reliability and build quality
Someone who likes to be dissapointed
Someone who likes to stay in repair shops
A Masochist
Jack Jim Janitor
I can go all night
I just saw a Ford commercial that said that FOrd was equal to Toyota in quality
Someone should sue FOMOCo for false advertising
I guess its not illegal to do your own study to make you equal with the quality leader
Ford is now my new target
If someone would comment that my wife is not the best looking woman around I would NOT take it as a complement. Blood would be spilled (perhaps mine).
Hey, Hey, don’t forget me tripleonefive! Your POS Honda’s and Toyota’s will never live up to the quality of the high regards of the Chrysler Sebring!
Well say what you want tripleonefive. I have driven and sold brand new TOyota products but never owned one. Would I sure. They’re good quality. I owned a Nissan Sentra nice car and Drove a Honda Accord quite often at one point. So I can comment on quality. I would say after the intial Taurus which was just ok on build quality. The newer Taurus dating back to the 1996 Taurus had a much better fit and finish build quality.
And from their Ford has steadily tighten the rachet on build quality. I am here to tell you I own a 2001 Taurus with the Duratec Engine and its every bit on the level of a Camry and in some cases better in terms of Quality.
The only problem Ford has is upper management has been asleep and ergo product design suffered. Quality has not suffered. Even products like the Ford 500 although should have never been produce because of no market have good (Excellent) build quality. Where Ford can shine is bringing the heavy guns to the designing the most electrifying products again on the market as they did with the intro of the 1983 T-Bird and then 1985 Taurus which carried on for another 15 before they went to sleep. So if you have a beef with Ford it can’t be on quality. Ford makes a damn good truck. Its the number #1 selling American vehicle! I’ll be most anxious to see what Ford does in 2011 to see the new Focus and even the Taurus planned behind the one their getting ready to do for next year. And even bigger question is Electric vehicle field is starting to really heat up here. Ford get a move on that too.
I’d say SYNC is probably the main reason why this is selling. You know how folks get a boner over new technology. It’s a fancy music player with a car wrapped around it.
Working Saturdays?!?!?!?! Way to be hatin’ on yo employees GM… you suck America! Goerge Bush Hates Black People.