New car sales price Ford Focus

These cars are operating in one of the toughest of all market segments and buyers are being wooed from all directions.

Ford has revised the specifications of the entry level model, the Focus Ambiente sedan by introducing the choice of a manual gearbox. The manual option was previously offered only on the hatchback. Ambiente is now on sale with a recommended driveaway price of just $19,990. An excellent price for a fully imported Euro styled car that sits a fair way up in the image stakes.

Ford Australia is also offering driveaway pricing, at $27,490, on the Focus Sport and Focus Trend manual for $22,890. To further increase value, the Ford Sync system is now standard across the entire Focus range. Sync synchronises hands-free, voice-activated in-car connectivity, this consists of USB and Bluetooth connectivity including music streaming; access to contacts stored in a connected phone via voice commands.

It also lets you access music from a connected USB or iPod device via voice commands, as well as by way of steering wheel controls. You can view music and call information on Ford Sync’s in-dash display. The multifunction trip computer used by the Sync system also give economy-minded drivers information by way of the Ford EcoMode system.

Passive safety features on the Focus include ABS brakes with Electronic Brakeforce Distribution (EBD) and Brake Assist; Dynamic Stability Control (DSC) and Torque Vectoring Control and Hill Launch Assist. Secondary safety is provided by driver and passenger front and side thorax airbags, and side curtain airbags that aid front and rear passengers.

Focus Ambiente is powered by a Duratec 1.6-litre petrol engine with 92 kW of power and 159 Nm of torque. Performance is good without being exactly exciting and our tests show it can get fuel consumption in the six to seven litres per hundred kilometres range on the open road, and seldom used more than nine litres around town even in heavy traffic.

Further assisting the low price of buying a Ford Focus is the MyFord capped price service plan where Ford will publish the maximum price you will pay for its standard services at a participating authorised Ford dealer. As an example, the maximum amount the owner of a new Focus 1.6-litre petrol would pay at a participating dealer for the first 15,000 km service is just $320.

The new prices of the Ford Focus range, with the previous prices in brackets:

Ambiente 1.6-litre manual five-door hatch: $20,290 ($21,990)
Ambiente 1.6-litre automatic five-door hatch: $22,590 ($24,290)
Trend 2.0-litre manual five-door hatch: $22,290 ($24,490)
Trend 2.0-litre automatic five-door hatch: $24,950 ($26,790)
Trend 2.0-litre turbo-diesel five-door hatch: $28,090 ($30,500)
Sport 2.0-litre manual five-door hatch: $25,890 ($27,890)
Sport 2.0-litre automatic five-door hatch: $28,190 ($30,190)
Sport 2.0-litre turbo-diesel five-door hatch: $31,690 ($33,690)
Titanium 2.0-litre automatic five-door hatch: $32,990 ($33,840)
Titanium 2.0-litre turbo-diesel five-door hatch: $36,490 ($37,340)
Ambiente 1.6-litre manual four-door sedan: $20,290 (n/a)
Ambiente 1.6-litre automatic four-door sedan: $22,590 ($24,290)
Trend 2.0-litre automatic four-door sedan: $24,950 ($26,790)
Trend 2.0-litre turbo-diesel four-door sedan: $28,090 ($30,500)
Titanium 2.0-litre automatic four-door sedan: $32,990 ($33,840)