Ford Focus 2008 News

The 59-year-old, one of the last senior executives from the tumultuous Jacques Nasser era, started as Ford's vice president of design in 1997 after working with BMW, Audi and Volkswagen.

... to take on the most competitive segment in this country. It's up against a classy field including Mazda3, Corolla, Lancer and locally-built Holden Cruze as well as VW Golf. But new Focus has plenty to recommend it ushering in a dynamic new look with real cut-through on the street and a classy new interior featuring Ford's acclaimed kinetic design language. Two distinctive bodystyles are available, sedan and hatch, each with its own appeal. Drivers will no doubt appreciate the cockpit-style driving environment yet the cabin has lost none of the comfort and practicality that has become a characteristic of Focus. Within the two bodystyles there are  three powertrains and four specification levels. The car has an impressive array of smart technologies, outstanding occupant safety and further advances in levels of driving quality. The strength of new Focus's body is down to extensive use of high-strength steels. Fifty-five per cent of the body shell is made of high-strength steels, of which 31 per cent is ultra-tough boron steel, more than any other Ford built to date. Meanwhile, high-strength steel is used in the integrated door opening reinforcement rings and door load paths to provide excellent protection from side impacts. New Focus also features a patented front chassis subframe, which de-couples during severe frontal impacts, avoiding deformation in the passenger cell footwell area. Pedestrian protection has been boosted by the addition of a "soft" cowl design in the front body structure and Ford has also relocated the windscreen wiper system to help further reduce injury risks. Option packages such as the Convenience Pack bring new technology to Focus. The well-specified mid-level Trend model is $24,490 for the 2.0-litre GDi petrol engine with five-speed manual transmission. Focus Sport has a greater emphasis on driving enjoyment. Key features include sports suspension, 17-inch alloy wheels, sports front seats, dual zone climate control and a Sony audio system with 4.2-inch colour screen and multi-function display. Sport also scores the Convenience Pack as standard equipment. It is more comprehensively equipped than the outgoing Zetec model. Focus Titanium has even more goodies and sells from a starting price of $32,590 for 2.0-litre GDi engine and six-speed PowerShift transmission variants. Needless to say, Focus is a key element of the Ford product portfolio in Australia. Expect a "European" feel to the car's dynamics and impressive fuel economy from the diesel model. The double clutch Powershift manumatic would be difficult to overlook for everyday and sporty driving as it offers the best of both worlds and an extra gear over the manual which is five speed only. What happened to the six-speed manual? NEED TO KNOW Four variants; Ambiente, Trend, Sport and Titanium. Engines: 1.6-litre four cylinder or new 2.0-litre GDi (Gasoline Direct Injection) and a 2.0-litre Duratorq TDCi turbodiesel. Dual clutch six-speed Powershift manumatic is available, manual `box is a five- speed. First appearance in Focus of rain sensing wipers, auto headlights and auto dim rear view mirror, follow me home lights. Available in five door hatch and four door sedan. Five star crash rating. Prices start at $21,990.

Two months after Ford Australia fixed a potentially dangerous brake defect on some versions of its Territory, the company is now recalling its Focus and Mondeos to check problem with brake vacuum pumps. The recall for the LV Focus and MA Mondeo, built since last year, only affects those with a diesel engine. Ford says under certain conditions the supply of vacuum to the brake booster may be reduced causing a hard brake pedal and increase stopping distances. Ford is contacting known owners by mail. In March, Ford recalled more than 83,000 Territories to fix a brake hose defect which was uncovered by Carsguide after complaints from readers.    

In a swiftly changing motoring environment carmakers are searching for new ways to cut fuel use and emissions and improve efficiency.Among the hundreds of concepts and new and updated models on display at the Paris motor show over the next 15 days are some definite standouts. Renault has combined gull-wing doors, comfort, refinement and a slippery design with a hybrid diesel engine and plonked it all on massive 23-inch wheels in its range-topping Ondelios concept car (cover picture).It's 4.8m long and has a hybrid 150kW version of the 2.0-litre dCi engine.There are also two 20kW electric motors at the front and rear to provide extra boost recovered during braking.Mercedes is unveiling one of the world's fastest cabriolets. The SLR McLaren Roadster 722S has 478kW of power and accelerates from 0-100km/h in 3.7 seconds before reaching a top speed of 335km/h.Just 150 of the two-seater supercars will be built. It complements Mercedes' other show star the ConceptFascination, a wild two-door sportswagon. It's a modern version of the old British “shooting-brake” where a wagon tail has been planted on a sporty saloon.Citroen's crossover concept, Hypnos, hasa 150kW engine that boasts miserly fuel efficiency figures of 4.5-litres per 100km.However, it what's inside that is different. An extremely colourful rainbow light show highlights its sleek styling.Honda is using the Paris show to highlight its green commitment. Star of its stand is the new Insight Concept, a dedicated petrol-electric hybrid car in the vein of Toyota's Prius.It is expected to go into production within the next few years.From the US, GM will debut a close to production version of its revolutionary Volt electric car. Chevrolet is showing its new crucial small car the Cruze, plus its first seven-seat multi-purpose family car, the Orlando show car.A form of SUV-family van and wagon crossover, it has a 2.0-litre diesel engine.Alfa Romeo is unveiling its little MiTo compact which is due to come to Australian the middle of next year.Fiat is showing the MiTo's likely competitor in the super-mini category, the 120kW 500 Abarth EsseEsse (SS) plus its PUR-O2 eco-range of cleaner, greener 500s. New technology includes the ability for the engine to turn itself off while idling and back on to continue driving.Mini will show its all-wheel-drive Crossover Concept, while BMW will premiere its X1 wagon. The Mini is intended for adventurous twenty-somethings, while the Concept X1 will go into production as a safe, practical family car.Chasing a similar small, sporty car market is Audi with its new A1. The near-production version will be a feature of its stand.Saab is exhibiting its 9-X Air concept car, while Volvo is debuting its production-ready ultra-safe XC60 crossover which is headed for Australia.Porsche has several new models in the911 range plus the go-anywhere Cayenne S Transsyberia super-4WD.Mazda's all-new Kiyora urban compact four-cylinder concept car will sit alongside the world debut of production cars, the new generation MX-5, the Mazda6 with a 2.2-litre turbo diesel engine and the Mazda2 1.6-litre diesel.Lamborghini has joined the rush to GT supercars with its four-door Estoque concept.Like Porsche's Panamera, Maserati's Quattroporte and Aston Martin's upcoming four-seater, the Estoque, brings a new versatility to one of the world's most uncompromising sports marques.Lamborghini stresses that although there are no production plans for the AWD Estoque it has been developed as fully production capable.Toyota has three world premiere vehicles ranging from its little four-seater city car, the iQ, to the all-new Avensis sedan and wagon and the 1.4-litre diesel-engined Urban Cruiser All Wheel Drive.Ford is debuting the all-new Ka city car with a choice of 1.2-litre petrol and 1.3-litrediesel engines, the hot Focus RS and the new economic Fiesta.Volkswagen will show off its latest Golf GTi. The hot hatch for 2009 is cleaner, smoother and much more refined than earlier cars.It will still come with a 155kW turbo petrol engine and the promise of a 7.2-second sprint to 100km/h, but is missing the wild body bits of earlier GTi road runners.Nissan's debuting Nuvu concept is just three-metres long. It only has two normal seats plus a third that folds down for luggage and groceries. The city car has solar panels on the glass roof.Ferrari will debut its chic two-seater V8 California sports car.From Korea will come Hyundai's i20 small car and a 2.4-litre engined hybrid SUV.Kia is showing its Soul range of urban crossover concepts that come with either petrol or diesel engines. There's also a hybrid version. Additional reporting by Kevin Hepworth and Paul Gover. 

Within three years, production-line workers will build cars with names they can't pronounce.It's nothing new but when the Russians start pumping out Mitsubishis and Peugeots and Citroens, it is another step in the process that sees car makers move out of their backyard and onto foreign soil.The reasons are cheap.Picking a developing country with available employment, low yet aspiring standards of living and government incentives such as free land and tax breaks is the financial equivalent of a Stephanie Rice wall poster.And there's no reason to feel shy about deserting the homeland in search of reduced manufacturing costs even if Porsche boss Wendelin Wiedeking is scathing of the practice — though the Cayenne body is made in Slovakia — and says so in his new (only) book “Don't Follow The Crowd”.Look around.You probably know it because you're on the carsguide.com.au site, but most car owners haven't a clue where their metallic ego in the driveway was born.The Honda Accord and Jazz are from Thailand, the Volkswagen Caddy in Poland, the Suzuki APU (named after the 24-hour shop owner in The Simpsons?) van in Indonesia, the Chrysler Grand Cherokee in Austria — on the same line as the BMW X3, no less — the Volvo XC70 in Belgium and the Volkswagen Golf, Ford Focus hatch and BMW 3-Series four-cylinder models in South Africa.As these countries grow richer on their ability to make cars cheaper for the world, so their prices — of labour and taxes and energy — will rise.Are there any countries left that have even lower costs that car makers can exploit? While you sift through the Atlas (get a current one, some countries and borders have changed in the past decade) let me tell you about one that has it all.And only recently is word out that this could be the next big think in car manufacture.Unlike Russia or Thailand or Slovakia, this country has English as its predominant language.It has an able workforce and rising unemployment.Its needs are many because the country has high consumer goods consumption.Yet the workforce — perhaps through desperation — can be turned to receive a modest wage.There are tax breaks and land going on offer throughout the country, most close to the ocean or rivers for easy transportation of raw materials and finished product.The icing on the cake is that it has existing infrastructure to support car assembly.The country is the USA.Now the focus turns from outward looking to the manufacturing equivalent of navel gazing.Now European countries have seen a weakened USA become ripe for domestic manufacture.The US dollar is so weak that it makes importing European cars too expensive.Far better to look at camping on US soil, in the way a cuckoo camps in another nest to exploit its personal needs.While General Motors seeks manufacturing in China, Volkswagen is looking at the USA.Volkswagen is not alone, European suppliers are also sniffing out what the USA can offer.The tide has unexpectedly changed and perhaps the only hindrance will be a revival in the US economy.Preoccupied with the 'war with no end' in the Middle East, the US is poised to become the world's next big car factory.Who would have thought that possible?

Kelly Landry is a self-confessed action junkie who dreams of slipping into the driver's seat of the world's fastest and most expensive car. For people who don't know - and she is not one of them - that car is a Bugatti Veyron. Landry is an international model and former travel reporter with Coxy's Big Break on Channel 7, but gets her big television break as co- host of Nine's born-again Million Dollar Wheel of Fortune.What was your first car?A 1989 white Ford Laser. It was a beast. I loved that car.What do you drive now?A new Ford Focus.Do you have a favourite drive and who would you take?I love the drive to Daylesford. Aside from the obvious reason, being a weekend away, I particularly love a certain part of the drive when the road is encased with beautiful oak trees and on a sunny day the light strobes through the branches. It would be nice to take a partner on that drive.How far do you drive in an average year?More than I'd like to. I love the open roads, but I think I clock up close to 20,000km sitting in horrible city traffic.Do you have a favourite motoring memory?A couple of times my family holiday involved driving to Queensland. I say a couple because after that we flew. I think three kids in the back for 20-odd hours nearly killed my parents. We sure had fun, though. I also used to own a 1967 Ford Mustang coupe. Every motoring moment was a pleasure in that car.And if money was no object?I have always had a bit of a love affair for a well-shaped motor vehicle. I really love cars so its hard to pick one, but looking at top-end-priced cars on appearance it would be a toss up between the Aston Martin DB9 and Audi R8. But if money was no object, I'd take the Bugatti Veyron out for a spin.What music is playing in your car?Whatever the mood strikes, really. I always have my iPod in the car, but I can be partial to a bit of 3AW. It's great in traffic.How much is too much for a new car?Well, the Bugatti is really a ridiculous amount of money to spend on a car, but I suppose it's all relative if you have a few spare million in your back pocket.What should be done to make driving safer?Road safety is actually really good in Australia in comparison to a lot of other countries. The problem is there isn't just one simple solution to road safety as there are so many variables that constantly change every time you are on the road. Making motor vehicles safer in terms of how they perform in an accident is definitely one on the top of a long list.Are you sponsored by a car company?No.

I have been a car spotter for most of my life and have always enjoyed being behind the wheel of something with four wheels, but due to a variety of reasons I had spent many years off the road and more importantly out of the driver’s seat!That all changed though last September when I decided to finally get back behind the wheel and took delivery of my German made mistress… A Silver Ford Focus XR5 Turbo.Why an XR5 I hear you ask? There are plenty of other import hatches with more grunt than the XR5 you declare! Perhaps. Then again the VXR torque steers like a V8 on a push bike and the MPS looks like an entry level Mazda 3. The reasons for an XR5 go beyond the stock performance, which can be easily improved with the help of ECU flash from the likes of DreamScience.For me its more about the comfort of the leather seats, the stirring rumble from the XR5’s distinct exhaust note, the fact that I can put shopping in the boot and also that it make a thirty four year old man feel like a teenager again! It is this last point that sets the scene for this story.Since buying my XR5 last September I have been a member of a website called “FordXR5Turbo.com”, which is a haven for those who either own one, want one or just love reading about them! It is also the marshalling point for weekend cruises. Every month or so the members within their respective states co-ordinate to meet up at a predetermined location for a day long cruise where they share stories, compare notes and ogle over each others XR5’s.Last Saturday I embarked on my virgin run with my fellow XR5 brethren and here is what transpired…Despite a rain soaked working week I awoke on Saturday morning to a promising glimpse of sunshine. I prepared myself the day’s outing. Water? Check. Snacks? Check. Phone? Check. CB Radio? Check.Everything was in order so I jumped in the car and commenced my journey to the rallying point – a well known burger supplier in Windsor. On arriving I was met with every XR5 owner’s wet dream! A rainbow of different coloured turbo charged Focus’ all lined up in the car park ready for their big day out.Pleasantries were exchanged and then the owners commenced checking out each other’s cars. I was pleasantly surprised to see that all of the cars were untouched in terms of body work and there wasn’t a neon light in sight! In fact the biggest exterior modification I could find was that one guy has resprayed his stock wheels black (this looked very cool by the way!)In fact the only changes made that I could find were ECU flashes and the odd exhaust upgrade.The time came for the convoy to roll out and so began the adventure of eighteen XR5’s driving through areas such as Lithgow, Bathurst, Oberon and finally the picturesque Jenolan Caves. I encountered a variety of road conditions from sweeping long highways to tight and steep hairpins with little more than chicken wire separating my precious vehicle (oh and my well being) from the precipice of the Great Diving Range.There was even a touch of “Smokey and The Bandits” to the day with one of the posse coping a speeding fine from the boys in blue, but in his defence I think he was simply making sure the accelerator pedal was in working order!The best part of the day was driving through the small towns and seeing the look on the local’s faces as this motley array of cars drove through in precession like a bunch of fun loving Hell’s Angels.The cruised offered me the chance to get to know my car in its proper surroundings – the open road and not the clutter of city driving. Most of all I got to meet lots of characters who all share the same passion.Will I be back? As long as there is fuel in the tank and rubber on the rims I’m ready for the next XR5 adventure! 

But no, this is all in the name of art. Or at least in the name of creativity in the art of selling cars.Late last year, a pair of American musicians – New York sound designer Bill Milbrodt and Hollywood movie composer Craig Richey – were commissioned to create the soundtrack for the latest European Ford Focus advertising campaign. Using instruments constructed entirely from the car itself.They might have saved themselves some time by calling on the skills of any of the enterprising thieves whose handiwork is behind the thousands of cars that disappear every month from American streets.But instead Milbrodt and Richey started with a fully-assembled spanking new Focus hatchback, straight off the production line.``When we got it to the mechanic’s shop, it had less than a mile on the clock,’’ Milbrodt said.``We took the doors and fenders off, but we had the body shell intact and we later cut out of that; the parts we wanted.’’Over a period of weeks, Milbrodt and his team broke the car down into its components, and then reassembled them to create the musical instruments.A total of 31 were built, each named for the part that seeded it; Rear Suspension Spike Fiddle, Transmission Case Cello-Dulcimer, Handheld Gear Tambourine, Clutch Guitar, Door Harp, Hatchback Kick Drum and the cheekily christened Fender Bass.Some of the mutant creations are surprisingly attractive. And all are amazingly capable of producing beautiful sound.The television commercial – shot at Universal Studios in Los Angeles; feature a light classical composition skilfully played by the orchestra, all of whom look wonderfully comfortable with their strange instruments.The internet sites showing the ad are getting mass hits in what has turned into a very successful viral marketing operation for the giant carmaker; even before the television campaign started screening in the United Kingdom this week.Car parts reconstructed into other objects have been a hit for other manufacturers as well, with one of the more memorable recent ones being Citroen’s transformer robot that danced up a storm; with the help of Justin Timberlake’s choreographer – and followed up with an ice-skating sequence.And no car ad of any kind has come close to touching the Honda Accord campaign that used a domino effect of disassembled parts to kickstart each other into motion, culminating in the car ignition firing.It reportedly took hundreds of muffed attempts before they eventually got it right (which may have been the inspiration for the ad’s tag line `don’t you love it when things just work’), but years later it still holds the crown as the cleverest piece of car advertising ever made. 

Developing a convertible version of any modern passenger car is always going to be an exercise in compromises. You can make the body stronger and stiffer to stop it flexing, but that adds extra weight that can also undermine dynamics – and boost the fuel bill. The trick is to find a good compromise point, and the Coupe-Cabriolet version of Ford’s Focus has managed that by coming close to matching the roofed variants’ handling without feeling like it’s been carved from a lead billet. They’ve even met the design challenge of making the car look equally good with the metal top up or down, with help from legendary Italian designers Pininfarina – who have penned quite a few high-end cars, including the occasional Ferrari and Maserati. As you’d expect, there’s a strong Ital-chic flavour to the car from the A-pillar back, the part that Pininfarina developed to accommodate the Coupe-Cabriolet function. What’s surprising is how well they’ve segued the design from what is basically the Focus sedan/hatch nose (with a bit of extra chrome tarting up around the grilles and fog lights). The best example is how the headlight wing sweep – arguably the best line on the donor car – now flows along the rising window-line and blends into the C-pillar’s subtle trailing slice that throws light along the side of the boot-lid, and visually trims what could otherwise be a bulbous butt. It’s hard to decide if the C-C looks better with the powered two-piece roof up or down, but since it takes only 29 seconds to change it, you can indulge any indecision without too much time or effort. Just be careful not to do it when you’re backed close to a wall, because the boot lid slides back about 30cm to accommodate the operation. A cargo separator stops the roof closing if your gear is piled too high, and boot space is excellent, offering a class-leading 534 litres with the roof up and 248 with it down. And unlike some other convertibles there’s enough of a gap with the roof folded to slide a small suitcase in and out, but sadly the spare wheel is a skinny 80km/h space saver. The front row gets plenty of room, and with seats lowered 20mm, even plenty of headroom by convertible standards. The back seat is too snug for adults on a long trip, but the expected buyer for this car will only be taking friends for a chic cruise and very few will be strapping kids in the back – although it might see a lot of use carrying matching luggage or fashionable pets. There’s a premium feel to the interior with quality materials and switchgear, very comfortable heated leather seats, cooled glove-box, automatic headlights, rain-sensing wipers, and a perimeter anti-theft alarm The six-speaker Sony audio system has an iPod jack and offers better clarity than most standard systems – especially when you consider it has to fight wind noise — but still tends to diminish some of the high and low nuances. There’s an extensive safety fit-out, including anti-skid brakes (20mm larger than on the sedan) with electronic brakeforce distribution for better effort and brake assist for panic situations, switchable stability control, traction control, twin front and front-side airbags. In a crash, moveaway systems reduce the chance of you being speared by pedals or the steering wheel column, and 20cm rollover bars fire upwards in 0.10sec – breaking through the rear window if necessary — when their gyros detect things are about to go topsy-turvy. Sits on 17” alloy wheels at each corner of an ultra stiff body with a rigid passenger safety shell and McPherson strut front/control blade rear suspension borrowed from the Focus Turbo. The sole engine on offer in Australia is the 2.0-litre Duratec four-cylinder that develops the same 107kW of power at 6000rpm and 185Nm of torque at 4500rpm in the other Focus variants. This is mated to a five-speed manual for $45,490 that Ford says uses a low 7.5L/100km, or a four-speed sequential automatic for $2000 and 0.8L/100km more. Options include metallic paint at no cost, 18” alloys for $1200 or reverse parking sensors for $500. Ford says 100 of the cars are already at dealerships, and they hope to sell that many every month – with about 75 being the automatic option — in a segment that has grown 27 per cent over the past five years of this self-rewarding decade. ON THE ROADThe worth of the body’s extra stiffening shows in it feeling very solid under all conditions, but over rough sections things like the rearview mirror and other bits around the cabin succumb to a touch of rattling, which undermines the pleasure There’s also a lot of top-down turbulence above 80km/h, which can be reduced a bit by putting all the windows up, but might be better addressed with the wind deflector on the accessory list. This would also prevent you leaving the indicator on after accidentally fumbling around the volume control stalk below it – as we did – for at least three postcodes before we heard it clicking its little heart away, probably to the annoyance of following traffic. As with the rest of the Focus range, there’s responsive steering and good turn-in, with just a touch of understeer from the front wheel drive. The short-throw manual shifter is smooth and definite, but at times when one of the five slots is too high and the next too low, you start to wish for an extra gear and shorter ratios However it works well to motivate the engine, which also appears in the sedan/hatch but is working against an extra weight penalty of 150kg in the Coupe-Cab. Add in a couple of adults and a steep hill, and it starts to get overburdened, even with the engine’s otherwise usefully flat torque curve. The four-speed automatic, while quite a good thing in itself – especially with the effortless shifting on the simulated manual side – isn’t quite up to keeping the engine aroused unless you have the revs bubbling, but does make boulevard cruising a breeze. And that’s really the natural habitat for the car. It wants to glide along the café strips with the occasional weekend tour out in the country. And for those purposes it’s a well-sorted and better equipped package rivals at the same price level. Ford Focus Coupe-CabrioletENGINE: 2.0-litre Duratec four-cylinderPOWER: 107kW at 6000rpm TORQUE: 185Nm at 4500rpm PRICE: $45,490 five-speed manual (7.5L/100km), $47,490 four-speed sequential automatic (8.3L/100km)

There have been rumours for more than a year about something new from the British brand, and the confirmation came with the single press picture released at the Frankfurt Motor Show.The shot asks more questions than it answers. Still, it is obvious the car in the picture is a big departure from the chunky off-roaders that fill out the Land Rover line-up from the flagship Range Rover down to the near-new Freelander II.It is lower, much smoother and appears to have only two doors. And it has a swoopy roofline which is more like the new BMW X6 crossover coupe (also revealed at Frankfurt) than a traditional off-roader.It also promises much lower fuel economy, up to 10per cent better than the Freelander II, as well as luring younger buyers to the brand.The newcomer could be displayed at the Tokyo Motor Show in October, instead of fighting for space at Frankfurt in a Ford family group, which included the all-new Jaguar XF, Mazda6 and facelifted Ford Focus, but there is no firm timing for showrooms.“Next year would probably be too early. But we are not talking about the timing,” says Land Rover's Natasha Waddington. “We are just showing this picture for the moment.”The Land Rover teaser comes as another luxury brand, Mercedes-Benz, gets ready to downsize on the four-wheel-drive front.It has a GLK soft-roader ready for next year that will slide in below its existing ML and GL four-wheel-drives as a rival to the Freelander II and BMW's X3. But the GLK, which is based on the mechanical package used for the C-Class sedan, is not coming to Australia.“The GLK is not going to be made in right-hand-drive. We could not make a business case,” Mercedes-Benz Australia spokesman David McCarthy says. “There is not enough volume. We would have liked it, but on the right-hand-drive side there is only Australia, the UK, South Africa and Japan. Not enough to make the numbers work.”The sneak peek of the new Land Rover comes at a good time for the company, which is on the auction block together with Jaguar and, most likely, Volvo as Ford looks to cut costs and complications to get it back into the black.It also shows Land Rover wants to follow Jeep into a more-youthful area of the four-wheel-drive business.The American company has been very successful in the US in turning Jeep into more than just a heavyweight off-road company, although its soft-shaped Compass has not done well in Australia. The Patriot, which is even newer, promises better results.Land Rover has its own model to copy, though, as it has done very good business with the city-focused Range Rover Sport. It is much more like a car to drive, even with its boxy body.The other Land Rover news from the Frankfurt show is a stop-start engine system that will be fitted to its vehicles from 2009. It is claimed to improve fuel economy by up to 10 per cent by killing the motor when the car is stopped in traffic, but it is only promised for manual transmission vehicles with more work needed on an adaptation for automatics.