Sharper Focus: Ford Teases a Next-generation Compact With Diminished U.S. Presence

by Steph Willems

Published: April 5th, 2018

sharper focus ford teases a next generation compact with diminished u s presence

Ford may have shuffled production of the next-generation Focus to China, but it hasn’t given up on the model entirely. That’s sufficiently good news for small car fans, what with domestic automakers dropping small car models like a scalding spatula.

The 2019 Focus reveals itself in a London, England event on April 10th, but the automaker’s European division saw fit to post a classy black-and-white video in advance of the reveal. While European buyers can look forward to numerous bodystyles, it’s not going to be close to the same lineup over on this side of the pond. Ford wants the next Focus to move slightly upmarket while offering less overall choice. If buyers aren’t taking to the compacts in the same numbers as before, why not try to squeeze extra profit from each vehicle?

So, what can we learn from this teaser?

More than most teasers, actually. You’ll be able to recognize the Focus easily from the front; the model’s wide grille carries over for the upcoming generation, while the headlights adopt Volvo-like daytime running lights that cut horizontally across the unit. Think Thor’s Hammer, just not double-sided.

A shot of the model’s wheel shows what looks like air curtains in the lower front fascia — an aero enhancement with greater fuel economy in mind.

While the fender bulges remain, albeit in a more subtler form, the current model’s amidships character line disappears for a more cohesive appearance. The rear hatch now features more metallic acreage between the glass and license plate. “FOCUS” appears in larger chrome letters below the badge, instead of the lower corner of the liftgate.

Besides the slightly more upscale packaging, Ford plans to offer Americans far fewer configurations of the Focus — a strategy that also applies to models like the Fusion and Escape. The Chinese production switcheroo, plus a higher average selling price, should satisfy Ford’s beancounters in the short term, though consumers with “Buy American” proudly displayed on their bumpers might be put off. For now, Ford has promised only a sedan for the U.S. market. Powertrain details remain a mystery.

One variant Americans will surely want to get their hands on is another Focus RS. The previous model bowed out of the domestic market last year, and limited European production ends tomorrow. Built at Ford’s Saarlouis, Germany assembly plant, the Focus RS became the darling of the hot hatch crowd the second it launched, and rumors point to a next-generation model with mild hybrid assist launching in 2020.

Focus sales in the U.S. rose 11.8 percent in March, with sales over the first three months of 2018 down 4.5 percent over the same period in 2017. The current generation’s first model year, 2012, was its best — Ford sold 245,992 units that year, but volume dropped each year thereafter. Last year’s tally was 158,385.

[Images: Ford Europe/ YouTube]

#2019FordFocus #Ford #FordFocus #FutureVehicles #ProductPlanning

Steph Willems

More by Steph Willems

Comments

Join the conversation

2 of 53 comments

Conundrum on Apr 06, 2018

Who set up car and electronics factories in China in the first place? China? Naw, it was greedy US corporations out to make a buck in an emerging market, and to flog the cheap excess back to the US. The Europeans followed suit soon afterwards. Americans are the strangest creatures. They forget who did what, and how their own overclass screwed them. Sonehow, they believe now that the Chinese engineered the whole thing, and insist that US corporations operating in China are actually pure Chinese, turn out shoddy product, and the entire blame of lost jobs must necessarily devolve to the Chinese, and not to the "greedy" US corporations who initiated the change in the first place. Talk about cognitive dissonance. Is basic observation and logic not taught in the USA?

Like Reply
Jeff S on Apr 06, 2018

Yes, the big multinational corporations are the ones that set up the manufacturing in China seeking less regulation, cheap labor, and cheap costs. Chinese will build anything to the price point so if just cheap is what you are looking for they will cut corners to meet the price point. The Chinese are more than capable of building quality products but will cut corners to meet a certain price.

Like Reply

Recent Comments

Kwik_Shift_Pro4X Thankfully I don't have to deal with GDI issues in my Frontier. These cleaners should do well for me if I win.
Theflyersfan Serious answer time...Honda used to stand for excellence in auto engineering. Their first main claim to fame was the CVCC (we don't need a catalytic converter!) engine and it sent from there. Their suspensions, their VTEC engines, slick manual transmissions, even a stowing minivan seat, all theirs. But I think they've been coasting a bit lately. Yes, the Civic Type-R has a powerful small engine, but the Honda of old would have found a way to get more revs out of it and make it feel like an i-VTEC engine of old instead of any old turbo engine that can be found in a multitude of performance small cars. Their 1.5L turbo-4...well...have they ever figured out the oil dilution problems? Very un-Honda-like. Paint issues that still linger. Cheaper feeling interior trim. All things that fly in the face of what Honda once was. The only thing that they seem to have kept have been the sales staff that treat you with utter contempt for daring to walk into their inner sanctum and wanting a deal on something that isn't a bare-bones CR-V. So Honda, beat the rest of your Japanese and Korean rivals, and plug-in hybridize everything. If you want a relatively (in an engineering way) easy way to get ahead of the curve, raise the CAFE score, and have a major point to advertise, and be able to sell to those who can't plug in easily, sell them on something that will get, for example, 35% better mileage, plug in when you get a chance, and drives like a Honda. Bring back some of the engineering skills that Honda once stood for. And then start introducing a portfolio of EVs once people are more comfortable with the idea of plugging in. People seeing that they can easily use an EV for their daily errands with the gas engine never starting will eventually sell them on a future EV because that range anxiety will be lessened. The all EV leap is still a bridge too far, especially as recent sales numbers have shown. Baby steps. That's how you win people over.
Theflyersfan If this saves (or delays) an expensive carbon brushing off of the valves down the road, I'll take a case. I understand that can be a very expensive bit of scheduled maintenance.
Zipper69 A Mini should have 2 doors and 4 cylinders and tires the size of dinner plates.All else is puffery.
Theflyersfan Just in time for the weekend!!! Usual suspects A: All EVs are evil golf carts, spewing nothing but virtue signaling about saving the earth, all the while hacking the limbs off of small kids in Africa, money losing pits of despair that no buyer would ever need and anyone that buys one is a raging moron with no brains and the automakers who make them want to go bankrupt.(Source: all of the comments on every EV article here posted over the years)Usual suspects B: All EVs are powered by unicorns and lollypops with no pollution, drive like dreams, all drivers don't mind stopping for hours on end, eating trays of fast food at every rest stop waiting for charges, save the world by using no gas and batteries are friendly to everyone, bugs included. Everyone should torch their ICE cars now and buy a Tesla or Bolt post haste.(Source: all of the comments on every EV article here posted over the years)Or those in the middle: Maybe one of these days, when the charging infrastructure is better, or there are more options that don't cost as much, one will be considered as part of a rational decision based on driving needs, purchasing costs environmental impact, total cost of ownership, and ease of charging.(Source: many on this site who don't jump on TTAC the split second an EV article appears and lives to trash everyone who is a fan of EVs.)