It shouldn't be long now before we see the 2008 Ford Focus without full disguise, but these are the best spy photos yet of the revamped sedan. No big surprises here as it looks like a shrunken Ford Fusion. We've also got the first shot of the new interior which looks well…updated.
Keep your hopes up!
It's merely missing a giant piece of wood/piano black trim that covers all that whiteness!!
The wood/piano black trim is not on there because it's a camouflage technique!!!
The taxi driver seat fabric is also a camouflage!!!!
The real car will have much nicer high grade sports fabric!!!!!
It's going to be great!!!!!!
What a shame. The European Focus has it all over this half ass redo of an old chasis. Ford is taking the Focus down the path of the Ranger and the Cavalier...refresh, refresh, refresh but never a redo and then they wonder why they're losing.
The Euro Focus is only slightly larger than the 1st gen, it's based on the same platform as the Mazda3, Volvo S40 after all. Definitely not Fusion sized! That would be the Mondeo! And the Fiesta competes with the Jazz (Fit), Opel Corsa etc.
I really don't understand why Ford keep on messing about updating the 1st gen Focus instead of selling the Euro one, I'm sure they have their reasons, but this looks like a pretty poor effort - the interior is nasty, whatever finish it ends up having.
If you consider that the competing cars are now easily selling for $20k (Mazda3, a loaded Civic or Corolla), and the current Focus can be had loaded for $14k out-the-door (with rebates and such), I don't know what people are complaining about. So it has some cheap plastic- IT'S A CHEAP CAR! And really I don't think this new interior layout looks any worse than the weird interiors of the Asian-branded cars available now (even a $50k Acura RL!). If Ford could get $20k for the Focus, I'm sure they'd make it as nice as a Mazda3. But why would you buy a $20k Focus when you can get into a Fusion for that much?
Merkurwwu:... because the Focus doesn't want to be sold for $14k... because Ford makes negative money selling the Focus for $14k... LOL.
Negative income is not good.
The cheap plastic makes Ford make negativev money.
Awesome business strategy.
Most Foci are built in Mexico where production costs are lower so they CAN make a profit on cheap cars (though, admittely small), even at a discount. Why do you think the Fusion is being built down there? Cheaper labor, no unions, cheaper facilities becuase enviornmental regulations are less strict...
So basically you want to take all that cheap plastic and cover it with something fancy, add more money to produce the car, and charge the same price as a Fusion that was designed to be profitable in the current market so they compete directly with eachother on the lot? Now THAT'S a sound business strategy. LOL...
On my last business trip to Geneva, Switzerland, I rented a Euro Focus for a week. Far, far better than the one we have here. Would I pay extra to buy the Euro Focus sold in the USA - you betcha! It's really a nice car with excellent driving dynamics.
When I picked up a Swiss national business colleague, he was shocked that it was a 5-speed manual. He exclaimed: "I thought Americans only drive automatics!"
It was really a great car, and when I returned home, I went to a Ford dealer and drove a Focus. Not even close . . .
With all of the nice Ford of Europe cars available, including the Mondeo, why doesn't Ford offer us what they offer those in other parts of the world. Maybe their sales, and financial condition, would improve if they did. Anyone in Dearborn listening??
Is that a 2-spoke steering wheel I saw? How hard is it for Ford to put in a nice looking 3-spoke wheel? Same could be said for the Fusion, Milan and MKZ.
Focus is not built in Mexico, it's built in Michigan. Ford moved the Focus's production to make way for the Fusion.
Ford could have brought over the Mondeo and personally I think they should have, but Ford listened to all those people that said Ford should leverage Mazda's products. So Ford took the Mazda 6 and stretched it (Mazda will be doing something similar in 2008). People around here love the Mazda 6 so I don't know why they have a problem with the Fusion
I still don't know how people can make so many claims about the new Focus's interior quality without even being in the vehicle. It looks like Ford took some of the components out of the Mazda 3 including the arm rests and the dash display. I think this is a huge improvement in the Focus's interior, albeit one design cycle too late.
that interior is not the best, but for the money, its up there, wayyy better than my buddy's SE-R sentra
they need to worry about powertrains, bring back the svt 2.0 or work on their current engines, i think 130 hp is pretty boring
That's strange. The current North American Focus is lighter and has better steering feel from it's hydraulic boost versus the current Euro Focus. The Euro focus may be more refined/higher quality, but the Mk1 is the more fun to drive of the two. It's good that the Focus' excellent damping and suspension travel plus BMW-beating steering feel are not widely known so that I can enjoy many years of depressed second-hand market prices. The best kept secret of enthusiast motoring.
Pay $14,000 for a Focus with a cheap hard plastic interior or pay $24,000 for a Ford 500 with a cheap hard plastic interior. Your choice. The Ford program manager got the interiors for the Focus from Collins & Aikman which is now in bankruptcy. Go figure.....
The latest Euro Ford Focus underpins the baby Volvo and Mazda3 here. It is, IMO, the finest small car available, esp. the interior. A pity the US Focus must settle for "freshenings". Ford says it hasn't made maximum profits off the old platform yet; that's why they're keeping it around. Note to Ford: Honda doesn't think that way!!!
bmxkid7117 - I think that's what Ford was going for. I hadn't seen any pictures of the interior before this, but that's what a few of my friends that work at Ford PD had said about this vehicle. I'll have to see it in person before I make any judgements, but it looks a little off from what volvo usually offers.
I wouldnt say this current platform is bad, Ive driven several SVT Foci and found it to be really communicative and balanced. Im not sure if they could improve the platform or if its even worth improving. Ford really let a good car get old. If you want to succeed in this market you have to keep your designs fresh and competitive. Changing only the bumpers and headlights dont cut it.
I know ford thought that just re-vamping the old chassis woud be a cheaper way of doing things (as opposed to bringing over the euro focus), but that plan usually fails, and this car (by the looks of the interior) won't be able to compete in interior and driving wise when compared to it's newer competitors....
The idea that ford would do something this stupid to save money, but then put out a car that will cause them to loose even more money (instead of the euro focus, which would at least help them turn a profit) seems retarded.
Instead of bringing over an established success from europe, they've spent millions of wasted dollars, money that could have been better spent on importing the euro focus. Now they're 7 billion+ dollars in debt.....
The ford family deserves to have their company fail.....it's their own fault.....
Someone from Chevy must have told Ford this was a good idea....at least then Chevy could move more Colbalts (which I hear are getting a new interior) and are newer than that tired old Focus....
I agree with you bmxkid, there is something in the "veneer" of pale material that reads as S40, albeit much more cheaply. I see quite a bit of new Passat in there as well, especially with that little pot belly bulge at the middle of the center stack (again, much more cheaply). I'd say it's worlds better than the current interior (sans the seat fabric, which still looks atrocious.) The old center tunnel, with its semi triangular shift binnacle and mickey-mouse eared cup holders were about on parity with the new Accent. I'm glad to see a more agressive front end that isn't a complete fusion copy; though other spy shots, particularly of the upcoming coup, really illustrate the tippy looking nature of the Focus' late 90's tall compact car proportions. (The visual weight over the rear wheels looked especially diffcult.)
Any word on if they will keep the 3-door and 5-door models? It was a shame the ST model only came as a sedan since I really enjoyed my test drive in an ST, but need the room of a hatch.
If I could get one of these well equipped for 15k and 27/37 mpg I'd bite.
the interior is an improvement but the exterior looks a little bland. Note to Ford MORE HORSEPOWER PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! we don't need 5 to 10 trimlines for one car
is that a current ford focus interior? it looks good I take back what i said about the inerior in my last post but it is somewhat of an improvement. However, this car NEEDS MORE HORSEPOWER!!!!! We do not need a dozen trimlines for one car. If you don't belive me they have trims from the ZX3 ZX4 Se SEL etc
I'll pass my judgement when I see the full car without camo. I have a question though ? has any body heard or figured out what that hump on the hood is all about ? Or is that just apart of the camo ? Happy New Year >:)
Meh, not impressive.
Is this at least based on the new Euro Focus, or the same 8 year old design we see in our rental fleets now?
Same old car. IS that interior missing some finisher faceplate?
The Euro Focus is the size of a Fusion. Think Fusion hatchback.
Yeah, the Europe Focus equivalent is called the Fiesta.
Not really. The current Fiesta was around when Europe was still on the 1st-gen Focus. The 2nd-gen Focus is Golf/Jetta sized.
I see Ford has taken DCX's interior philosophy, fill it with crappy plastic and call it a day.
Keep your hopes up!
It's merely missing a giant piece of wood/piano black trim that covers all that whiteness!!
The wood/piano black trim is not on there because it's a camouflage technique!!!
The taxi driver seat fabric is also a camouflage!!!!
The real car will have much nicer high grade sports fabric!!!!!
It's going to be great!!!!!!
Are people really complaining here that an economy compact car is using plastic? How can you even tell the grade of the plastic from this picture?
What a shame. The European Focus has it all over this half ass redo of an old chasis. Ford is taking the Focus down the path of the Ranger and the Cavalier...refresh, refresh, refresh but never a redo and then they wonder why they're losing.
I wonder what'll be under the hood. *sigh* I miss SVT.
The Euro Focus is only slightly larger than the 1st gen, it's based on the same platform as the Mazda3, Volvo S40 after all. Definitely not Fusion sized! That would be the Mondeo! And the Fiesta competes with the Jazz (Fit), Opel Corsa etc.
I really don't understand why Ford keep on messing about updating the 1st gen Focus instead of selling the Euro one, I'm sure they have their reasons, but this looks like a pretty poor effort - the interior is nasty, whatever finish it ends up having.
Man, that is really, really ugly.
Are European interiors SO expensive that they can't afford to put them in our cars? European Focus has lovely interior.
And when are they going to install rear headrests on our Focus? At least make them an added cost option...
For a Ford, it isn't all that bad, but that's not saying much.
I don't expect anything better from them.
If you consider that the competing cars are now easily selling for $20k (Mazda3, a loaded Civic or Corolla), and the current Focus can be had loaded for $14k out-the-door (with rebates and such), I don't know what people are complaining about. So it has some cheap plastic- IT'S A CHEAP CAR! And really I don't think this new interior layout looks any worse than the weird interiors of the Asian-branded cars available now (even a $50k Acura RL!). If Ford could get $20k for the Focus, I'm sure they'd make it as nice as a Mazda3. But why would you buy a $20k Focus when you can get into a Fusion for that much?
Merkurwwu:... because the Focus doesn't want to be sold for $14k... because Ford makes negative money selling the Focus for $14k... LOL.
Negative income is not good.
The cheap plastic makes Ford make negativev money.
Awesome business strategy.
Billt:
Most Foci are built in Mexico where production costs are lower so they CAN make a profit on cheap cars (though, admittely small), even at a discount. Why do you think the Fusion is being built down there? Cheaper labor, no unions, cheaper facilities becuase enviornmental regulations are less strict...
So basically you want to take all that cheap plastic and cover it with something fancy, add more money to produce the car, and charge the same price as a Fusion that was designed to be profitable in the current market so they compete directly with eachother on the lot? Now THAT'S a sound business strategy. LOL...
On my last business trip to Geneva, Switzerland, I rented a Euro Focus for a week. Far, far better than the one we have here. Would I pay extra to buy the Euro Focus sold in the USA - you betcha! It's really a nice car with excellent driving dynamics.
When I picked up a Swiss national business colleague, he was shocked that it was a 5-speed manual. He exclaimed: "I thought Americans only drive automatics!"
It was really a great car, and when I returned home, I went to a Ford dealer and drove a Focus. Not even close . . .
With all of the nice Ford of Europe cars available, including the Mondeo, why doesn't Ford offer us what they offer those in other parts of the world. Maybe their sales, and financial condition, would improve if they did. Anyone in Dearborn listening??
Well then,
¡Viva Ford Motor Company!
¡El orgullo de México!
Is that a 2-spoke steering wheel I saw? How hard is it for Ford to put in a nice looking 3-spoke wheel? Same could be said for the Fusion, Milan and MKZ.
Focus is not built in Mexico, it's built in Michigan. Ford moved the Focus's production to make way for the Fusion.
Ford could have brought over the Mondeo and personally I think they should have, but Ford listened to all those people that said Ford should leverage Mazda's products. So Ford took the Mazda 6 and stretched it (Mazda will be doing something similar in 2008). People around here love the Mazda 6 so I don't know why they have a problem with the Fusion
I still don't know how people can make so many claims about the new Focus's interior quality without even being in the vehicle. It looks like Ford took some of the components out of the Mazda 3 including the arm rests and the dash display. I think this is a huge improvement in the Focus's interior, albeit one design cycle too late.
they need to bring the next gen here
that interior is not the best, but for the money, its up there, wayyy better than my buddy's SE-R sentra
they need to worry about powertrains, bring back the svt 2.0 or work on their current engines, i think 130 hp is pretty boring
Louiswei - I think it is a 3-spoke, but the bottom spoke is blindsided by the rim. Hard to tell though.
That's strange. The current North American Focus is lighter and has better steering feel from it's hydraulic boost versus the current Euro Focus. The Euro focus may be more refined/higher quality, but the Mk1 is the more fun to drive of the two. It's good that the Focus' excellent damping and suspension travel plus BMW-beating steering feel are not widely known so that I can enjoy many years of depressed second-hand market prices. The best kept secret of enthusiast motoring.
Pay $14,000 for a Focus with a cheap hard plastic interior or pay $24,000 for a Ford 500 with a cheap hard plastic interior. Your choice. The Ford program manager got the interiors for the Focus from Collins & Aikman which is now in bankruptcy. Go figure.....
The latest Euro Ford Focus underpins the baby Volvo and Mazda3 here. It is, IMO, the finest small car available, esp. the interior. A pity the US Focus must settle for "freshenings". Ford says it hasn't made maximum profits off the old platform yet; that's why they're keeping it around. Note to Ford: Honda doesn't think that way!!!
is it just me or does the interior, more so the center stack look like a volvo to anyone?
bmxkid7117 - I think that's what Ford was going for. I hadn't seen any pictures of the interior before this, but that's what a few of my friends that work at Ford PD had said about this vehicle. I'll have to see it in person before I make any judgements, but it looks a little off from what volvo usually offers.
I wouldnt say this current platform is bad, Ive driven several SVT Foci and found it to be really communicative and balanced. Im not sure if they could improve the platform or if its even worth improving. Ford really let a good car get old. If you want to succeed in this market you have to keep your designs fresh and competitive. Changing only the bumpers and headlights dont cut it.
I know ford thought that just re-vamping the old chassis woud be a cheaper way of doing things (as opposed to bringing over the euro focus), but that plan usually fails, and this car (by the looks of the interior) won't be able to compete in interior and driving wise when compared to it's newer competitors....
The idea that ford would do something this stupid to save money, but then put out a car that will cause them to loose even more money (instead of the euro focus, which would at least help them turn a profit) seems retarded.
Instead of bringing over an established success from europe, they've spent millions of wasted dollars, money that could have been better spent on importing the euro focus. Now they're 7 billion+ dollars in debt.....
The ford family deserves to have their company fail.....it's their own fault.....
Someone from Chevy must have told Ford this was a good idea....at least then Chevy could move more Colbalts (which I hear are getting a new interior) and are newer than that tired old Focus....
stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid Ford....RIP
I agree with you bmxkid, there is something in the "veneer" of pale material that reads as S40, albeit much more cheaply. I see quite a bit of new Passat in there as well, especially with that little pot belly bulge at the middle of the center stack (again, much more cheaply). I'd say it's worlds better than the current interior (sans the seat fabric, which still looks atrocious.) The old center tunnel, with its semi triangular shift binnacle and mickey-mouse eared cup holders were about on parity with the new Accent. I'm glad to see a more agressive front end that isn't a complete fusion copy; though other spy shots, particularly of the upcoming coup, really illustrate the tippy looking nature of the Focus' late 90's tall compact car proportions. (The visual weight over the rear wheels looked especially diffcult.)
Any word on if they will keep the 3-door and 5-door models? It was a shame the ST model only came as a sedan since I really enjoyed my test drive in an ST, but need the room of a hatch.
If I could get one of these well equipped for 15k and 27/37 mpg I'd bite.
the interior is an improvement but the exterior looks a little bland. Note to Ford MORE HORSEPOWER PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! we don't need 5 to 10 trimlines for one car
Compare to this...
is that a current ford focus interior? it looks good I take back what i said about the inerior in my last post but it is somewhat of an improvement. However, this car NEEDS MORE HORSEPOWER!!!!! We do not need a dozen trimlines for one car. If you don't belive me they have trims from the ZX3 ZX4 Se SEL etc
vvk's post is the euro focus interior. (interesting how FoMoCo can make a seamless dash from a-pillar to a-pillar in europe but not here. anon . . . )
I'll pass my judgement when I see the full car without camo. I have a question though ? has any body heard or figured out what that hump on the hood is all about ? Or is that just apart of the camo ? Happy New Year >:)