Ford Focus 2011 revealed

After a string of false starts, as well as running the same badge on two entirely different cars for Europe and the USA, the blue oval brand gets serious in 2010 about a universal Focus.  The all-new global car is previewed this week as the headline act for Ford at the Detroit Motor Show and should be rolled into Australia late in 2011.

The new car is so important that Ford USA, which has feasted on the sales and profits from giant pickup trucks and SUVs for a generation, is turning one of its biggest truck factories in Detroit into the American production base for the Focus. The decision was made easier because share of pickup sales in Ford showrooms has dropped from 70 per cent in 2004 to just 40 per cent in 2009.

Ford says the all-new Focus is the company's first truly global car and it will be sold in 122 countries.  The move means it will drop the current three-Focus plan for a single mechanical package that shares about 30 per cent of its parts with the Mazda3.

But the Focus plan does not stop with a single car. It will be spun into 10 different vehicles, with the move starting with the Focus hatch and sedan displayed this week in Detroit.  "We recognised customer wants were converging globally, and these products will have genuine global reach," says Derrick Kuzak, Ford Motor Company's group vice-president of product development.

Kuzak says Focus is the "ultimate expression of Ford's new DNA".  What he means is the car's look comes from the successful 'Kinetic' design that has worked so well in Europe on cars including the latest Fiesta now sold in Australia.

The Focus hatch has a strong and aggressive face, with grille lines streaming back over the bonnet to heavily-sculpted flanks. The sedan has a more conservative shape, particularly around the tail, and is missing a lot of the hatch's tight dynamism.

The basics of the global Focus are familiar from the current car, with little change to the wheelbase, but the car crouches 20 millimetres lower and the nose has been stretched by 30 millimetres to improve pedestrian crash protection. 

There are two 'Design Study' teaser cars at the Detroit show but only one, the sedan, has a fully-fitted cabin. The interior has an upmarket look with stitched upholstery, contrasting piano black and satin metal finishes, and trapezoidal shapes in a driver-focussed layout. It also has a quality Sony sound system.

It is far too early for Ford Australia to set powerplants or equipment levels for Australia, but the plan includes an all-new 2-litre engine - with direct fuel injection and a six-speed, twin-clutch gearbox - being readied for the USA and some parts of Asia.  There is also a 1.6-litre Ecoboost engine, a cousin to the 2-litre four that will be fitted to the locally-made Falcon later this year.

The Ecoboost package uses direct fuel injection and turbocharging to reduce engine capacity without any performance loss, with the benefit of a 20 per cent improvement in fuel economy and a similar drop in CO2 emissions.  A great deal of work has gone into making the Focus quieter, more comfortable and safer while improving the car's famed agility.

The body for the global Focus will be 55 per cent high-strength steel - more than any other Ford - while eight different thicknesses of steel will be combined in the B-pillar for side-impact protection.  Ford is promising a raft of technology, including the sort of dynamic cornering control system normally fitted to high-end sports cars.

Instead of using braking the way it operates in ESP stability control, DCC uses 'torque vectoring' of the driven wheels to help the car pull itself through corners.  Engineers have also tweaked the electrically-assisted steering for better precision and to improve fuel economy, with an active 'shutter' in the grille to cut airflow and drag when the car is moving.

The Australian on-sale date for the global Focus is still being decided, with America and Europe up first.  "We believe some Asian markets will get it early in 2012, we are in the middle there somewhere between the US and Asia," says Sinead McAlary, spokesperson for Ford Australia.

The car will be built in Spain, Russia, Germany, Thailand and China - as well as the former truck factory in Detroit - and the objective is to sell two million cars a year. That would make it the world's best selling car.

McAlary will not confirm which Focus factory will supply Australia, but it is likely to be Thailand and she admits "demand from the European and US markets will not affect our supply".