Ford Focus 2011 News

Though Ford Australia is concentrating on putting the Focus into local production from 2011, president Tom Gorman says its shared-platform architecture also presents other opportunities. The next-generation Focus, codenamed C2, will share much with the new C-Max multi-purpose vehicle and Kuga crossover all-wheel-drive. Though keen to hose down speculation, Gorman says something like the C-Max or even Kuga could present opportunities. “That might be the case. But right now it's really just about the Focus four and five-door,” he says. “Some of the smaller brands like the XR5 won't be localised." “We'll still take that out of Europe. But it does open up for us more opportunity for success in that small-car segment. If things happen in the future and something like C-Max or other derivatives make sense, you'd have to see what size the volume is. What I don't want to do is be in a position where we're putting 200-units-a-month opportunities into the plant. That's very hard to justify economically.” The Kuga goes on sale next year after its Frankfurt motor show debut in September. Though details are scarce, the Kuga will probably offer a range of petrol and turbodiesel engines, including the 2.0-litre 100kW/320Nm TDCi that has just appeared in the Focus. The Kuga is based on the Iosis X concept unveiled at last year's Paris motor show and introduces Ford's new “kinetic design” language into a compact and distinctive AWD crossover. Ford of Europe executive design director Martin Smith says the company knows image-conscious customers want a very individual car. The Kuga, which uses underpinnings similar to those in the robust Land Rover Freelander and proposed Volvo XC60, will be built at Ford's Saarlouis plant in Germany.    

Ford Australia boss Tom Gorman has declined to guarantee a long-term future for the company's flagship Falcon and Territory models. In announcing the decision to build the small Ford Focus in Australia from 2011, Gorman also pointed to “opportunities to walk away” from less profitable business.“Over time, what you really want to do is pursue the most profitable business so if it gives us some opportunities to really revenue-manage and go after profitable segments and maybe walk away from some less profitable business ... you have that opportunity when you are at full capacity,” Gorman says of the plans to build 40,000 Focus cars at the company's Broadmeadows site.But Gorman wouldn't directly identify what those less profitable models might be.“It is probably inappropriate that I do that today (identify the less profitable business),” he says.“You can imagine that in certain segments we have better margins than in others ... that is a hypothetical question until we are at full capacity.”Gorman's comments come after CARSguide revealed last Saturday that the Territory might be under threat in future production plans. With only three models to be built in Australia; Focus, Falcon and Territory — the obvious targets for rationalising are the two large cars which compete in shrinking segments.While Falcon will still be relatively new in 2010 once the switch has been made from the inline six to a new V6 engine and with a high fleet demand, Territory will not have those defences.Gorman says initial Focus production projections of 40,000 could expand with additional export opportunities and continued local market growth. “Of the 40,000, we are anticipating 25,000 domestic and 15,000 will be export,” he says.“Now if we do 2000 Focus we are walking around like it's a real success but that has to become a bare minimum for us. Some of the other players like Corolla and Mazda3 routinely do 3000 a month. If we can lift our numbers to 2500 a month religiously that is 30,000 right there.”Gorman says Australian Focus production will initially be in right-hand drive only, with exports to South Africa and New Zealand but additional export markets are being identified.“This is a watershed event for us in Australia, really going after what is the largest segment of the market and having the opportunity to control that product locally should be a huge advantage for us,” Gorman says.“If you go back 10 years, small cars used to be less than 100,000 units in the marketplace and this year there is likely to be 220,000-225,000 in Australia. We are not happy as a distant number three player and localisation should help us.”The good news flow-on for Ford, less than a week after announcing the 2010 closure of the Geelong engine plant and subsequent loss of 600 jobs, is that Focus production will have benefits for Ford and its suppliers.Plus there are 300 extra jobs at Broadmeadows and unspecified further job opportunities at Geelong. 

Ford delivered some good news this week with confirmation that the Focus will be manufactured at its Campbellfield assembly plant in Melbourne from 2011.It is a ray of hope for the workforce of around 5000 left at Ford Australia following the decision last week to cease production of its six-cylinder engine plant in Geelong at the cost of 600 jobs.The Focus development will add 300 jobs and help secure Ford's future in Australia.The Focus small car which is currently sold in Australia is sourced from South Africa with that operation told the news on Monday that it will no longer make the Focus post 2010.Australia will make hatch and sedan variants for right-hand-drive markets only with South Africa and New Zealand the initial recipients of an export program that will grow with more countries announced closer to the start of assembly in Melbourne.“It's a big opportunity for our local supply base as well as a big opportunity for us,” Ford Australia president Tom Gorman said.“As you can imagine this is a watershed announcement for us.”The Victorian and Federal governments will contribute $20 million each to the project where petrol and diesel Focuses will be made in Australia with imported powertrains. It is expected volume will reach 40,000 a year with 25,000 for Australia and the rest exported.There remains a chance Focus production could overtake Falcon numbers.“You have to keep a close eye on that,” Gorman said. “If we can pick up our volume in terms of overall market share with the Focus it's conceivable.“But at the moment what I like is that we have four very strong products . . . still a very important Falcon, Ute and a very important Territory and from 2011 it will be a very important Focus.”The small car market in Australia has more than doubled on the numbers when Ford pulled the plug on its Laser in 1998 which the Focus ended up replacing when it first arrived here in September 2002.“Ten years ago the small car market was less than 100,000 units and it will probably be 220,000-225,000 at the end of this year.”Ford says engineering and design for future Focus models will continue to be driven out of Europe.But there could be a chance for Ford Australia to have a greater say in product development providing Focus can grow with the “localisation” of the product.“We are a major player in Focus not only in the region but globally,” Gorman said.“I think as we raise our volume and we do better in terms of market penetration we can expect to have more of an input.”Gorman has ruled out niche variations of the Focus for Australian production but admits there is an opening for the Ford Performance Vehicles arm to develop a fresh warmed-over variant along the lines of the current XR5.“With FPV we've always talked to them about extending their reach,” Gorman added.“There is nothing to say we wouldn't have some desire to do stuff with FPV outside of the Falcon and Falcon Ute.“Once you localise, it gives you a whole range of opportunities that don't exist today.”Gorman defended the timing of the Focus deal, saying that it was not signed off until last Friday, two days after the grim news about the Geelong engine plant.“We weren't in a position to finalise the project until Friday.“It's a little early to judge morale (within Ford).“We're trying to be sensitive to the fact we made a very difficult announcement last Wednesday and there are 600 people whose lives have been dealt a little bit of a shock . . . more than a little, a big shock.“We're going to be working with them carefully on redeployment and retraining where necessary.“It's not a feeling of there's a big celebration here at the moment.“I'd say it's relatively muted at the moment given that we made a tough announcement last week.”

The car industry uses a web of alliances to survive.Lust, affairs, one-night stands, engagements, marriages and divorces — it can be hard sharing your love. It can also be expensive, especially if the human analogy is applied to the car business.DaimlerChrysler's recent divorce cost the now-solo Daimler AG a cool $33 billion.Daimler and its former partner, now known by her maiden name of Chrysler Group, still share the kids.These include shared components and manufacturing, including the Chrysler Crossfire (based on the previous Mercedes-Benz SLK) and Jeep Grand Cherokee, which uses Mercedes' V6 diesel engine and transmission.Daimler-Benz and Chrysler courted in the late 1990s, sealing their association in 1998 with a new name, DaimlerChrysler.The marriage was mutually beneficial. Daimler gained economies of scale and a new customer for engines, transmissions and an outlet for its old platforms. The previous Mercedes E-Class shares the same platform as the Chrysler 300C.Chrysler gained unprecedented, cost-effective access to the drivetrains used to power its distinctively styled cars.Of the divorce, shareholders of Daimler- Chrysler spitefully said “I knew it wouldn't work”.Marriages may be difficult, but alliances are what keep many car companies afloat.All these inter-relationships are spurred by one goal — profit. So competitive is the car industry that every dollar counts.Making cars cheaper improves profits, even if that means relocating factories to countries with low labour costs, non-existent unions and tax-free government incentives.Few would know that 10 models on the Australian market are made in Thailand. South Africa makes five, there's one from the Czech Republic, three from Slovakia, one from Poland, four from Malaysia and one from Indonesia.Build quality in most cases is as good as you'd expect from a country-of-origin factory.The biggest difference is manufacturing costs. Building a Volkswagen Golf in Germany, for example, costs substantially more than building the same car in South Africa. Sharing components such as engines, transmissions, platforms and bodies with a rival company — or at least one perceived as being a rival — is big business.The platform of the Mazda3 is similar to the Volvo S40 and Ford Focus. Ford has a big chunk of Mazda's shares and owns Volvo outright.The Toyota Aygo, a one-litre hatch soon to be sold in Australia, is built in the Czech Republic with the Citroen C1 and Peugeot 107. The only differences are interior trim, grilles, head and tail lights. Everything else, except the badge, is identical.General Motors has a giant web of ownership, component sharing and minor shareholdings. It owns Saab and Hummer, and rebadges cars including the Daewoo Matiz as Chevrolets.GM owned 20 per cent of Fiat until it dissolved the relationship in 2005. But retains component sharing deals and owns 50 per cent of Fiat's JTD diesel engine technology.GM also has 3 per cent of Suzuki (it had 20 per cent until selling down in March 2006) and 7.9 per cent of Isuzu.This relationship crosses with Fiat. Suzuki buys Fiat diesel engines for its European cars but also buys diesels from the PSA group (owner of Peugeot and Citroen) and Renault. Fiat this year will also supply diesel engine's to Saab.The Suzuki Splash, to be launched in Europe later this year is based on the Swift/SX4 platform, but will be rebadged the Opel/Vauxhall Agila for European sales.Fiat sells the Suzuki SX4 as the Sedici in Europe.Suzuki also owns 11 per cent of GM-DAT, the Korean-based company that makes the Holden Epica, Captiva, Viva and Barina.GM sold its 20 per cent of Subaru parent, Fuji Heavy Industries, in 2005. Fuji bought back most of the shares, though Toyota bought in and now owns 8.7 per cent of the company.Toyota also owns Daihatsu and has a big stake in Yamaha. Yamaha has an engineering alliance with Toyota — twin-cam engine and multi-valve heads included — and recently created the V8 engine for Ford-owned Volvo.GM also gets its Saab plant in Sweden to make the Cadillac BLS mid-size car, alongside its Saab 9-3 and 9-5.The Hyundai Sonata's 2.4-litre engine is shared with the Jeep Compass, Dodge Caliber, Chrysler Sebring and Mitsubishi Outlander.Renault has an alliance with Nissan and owns Samsung (Korea) and has a joint venture with Mahindra (India).Porsche's Cayenne SUV is built in Volkswagen's factory in Slovakia alongside the Volkswagen Touareg and Audi Q7. Porsche's Cayman is built in Finland. That's just the tip of iceberg.Peyton Place has nothing on these guys.