Posted on Tuesday 15 April 2008
Strong demand for the Ford Focus in the U.S. has led management to boost production numbers of the car by 30% for the remainder of the year. The latest announcement reaffirms the growing shift in consumer demand towards smaller and more fuel-efficient vehicles and is a trend most carmakers in the U.S. are experiencing.
In the first three months of the year, Ford sold 49,070 Focus models – an increase of 23% from the same time period last year. The means the Focus now commands 7.6% of the U.S. small car market and Ford is predicting the figure may rise by the end of the year.
Ford will now increase production in order to build a total of 245,000 Focus vehicles all up this year, up from just 191,000 in 2007. To accommodate the increased numbers employees at the Wayne Stamping and Assembly plant in Michigan where the Focus is built will need to work overtime and on Saturdays.
Popularity of the car has been on a steady rise since its facelift last year and J.D. Power sales data show that 30% of buyers are 16 to 35 years old - up from 26% of 2007 Focus buyers. Quality has also improved 13% over last year and the car is available with a number of premium options including Ford’s Sync multimedia system.
This will be the last Focus model unique to North America as the next-generation model will be based on a new global version based on Ford’s C1 platform.
Good.
Ford has good cars, they just need to make more of them…
that view is the best view of that car. IT looks good from there.
lol
We can’t get enough cheap, crappy cars. You go Ford! Save the good stuff for Europe, we don’t need those hifalutin pussy cars over here. Yeehaw!
amac: refer to my comments on the last article about the next focus being global. If you havent driven the 1st gen focus, the “2nd” gen focus, the mazda 3, the mazdaspeed3, the volvo s40 and the c30, then you really can’t comment on the US getting shafted. this is a damned good car, and a huge improvement on the last generation. it’s about 90% between the C1 cars and the old focus. I know because I drive it every day.
It really isnt a surprise to me that they are selling more of these than the last one. compare this sedan to the last sedan, and you’ll be surprised. go look at one of these things on the lot, walk around it a couple times. it really is a nicely designed car. mechanically is stellar, a huge improvement on what was already a great car, one of the best, and like the article says, between the mileage (i’m getting over 40 mpg consistently), and the toys (yes, the sync really does work. my boss is from columbia and it has no problem with his accent)… its really a matter of “why would you buy anything else”. the only thing it doesnt offer is a hot version. and given the short life expectancy of this model, I dont see it getting one either.
GO BLUE!
just dont let this get to ur head ford. we NEED new mechanicals for the next one. but like the last focus article said, 87% of the car is shared components, which could be good news for future Escape models, and things like that.
US Focus is ugly
Deep.
rafel; like I said, the first gen hatch was stellar, but the first gen sedan was, interesting. compare the sedan to the sedan, and you’ll see the newer one is much nicer. MUCH.
chris: I’m glad you’re happy with your Focus. Ford needs loyal customers like you, but if you weren’t so loyal maybe you’d find better options out there. Whatever, I’ve given up on the Big Three ages ago. I’m tired of waiting for them to get it right. I remember when Ford launched the Escort over 25 years ago. It was touted as a “world car”, so when Ford says the next Focus will be “global”, well, that’s not saying much. The Escort was a crude car with a dashboard that looked like a child designed it. Even back then, Hondas and Toyotas were more refined. If the Big Three had spent less on marketing and more on improving quality and refinement, then maybe they wouldn’t be in the dire situation they are in today.
I’m not impressed with Ford at all. I still vividly remember the endless problems with my mother’s brand new ‘85 Topaz. She couldn’t get the engine to start half the time and it would constantly stall when idling in traffic. It was a total lemon and the Ford mechanics couldn’t even figure out what the problem was. After two months of hell she traded it in for a used Jetta, which turned out to be great, low-maintenance, fun-to-drive car. After being loyal to foreign cars for several years, she decided to give an American brand a chance and got royally burned. You might be tempted to say “that was then and this is now” – and I will concede that American cars are somewhat better today – but it’s too little too late. At the end of the day, there are still better choices out there.