It turns out our speculation from a year ago turned out to be right on the money, and both of the European global cars will be headed to America in the near future. Aside from the Fiesta, all of the new global cars arriving in the United States will be based on the same platform, the C1. The current U.S. Focus uses an older generation of the platform, but all three models - Focus, Kuga and C-Max - share the new underpinnings in Europe.
The new crop of global cars will be built in the U.S. despite their European origins. The Fiesta will be the first to show, with a confirmed sale date of 2010, reports Automotive News. The Focus still hasn't gotten a firm date, but it is coming, and insiders expect 2011 to be the year, although late 2010 is also a possibility. The Kuga and C-Max have not had firm date commitments either, but it will probably be at least 2011 and possibly 2012 before they are both on sale in the U.S.
Ford also announced that it would be synchronizing the product development cycles between the U.S., Europe and the Asia-Pacific region now that it is moving to global platforms. The move is intended to keep supply chains and economies of scale advantages that would disappear if models weren't receiving updates at the same time across the global market.
Ford Kuga
Reader Comments
Mon May 19 2008 2:17 PM
James says
Is Kuga replacing the Escape or will it be sold next to the Escape? If Ford keeps the "Kuga" name, then it should obviously be sold by Mercury.
Mon May 19 2008 3:19 PM
PJE says
With timings like these are they using the production line in Europe, and when the car ends its useful life there shipping them to the USA? ;-)
Mon May 19 2008 5:21 PM
james says
i think this is a positive direction for ford's styling, way to go ford
Mon May 19 2008 9:49 PM
chris says
James, with a J, good call. I think it would be a really big deal for them to keep the escape name and still sell a Kuga here. hell... if you want.. you could sell it as a mercury.. and call it the couger. nah... scratch that. thats the mercury focus name.
little james... they've been moving away from the bold american styling already.. the new focus is a little curvier than the "bold" styling that was first started on the 427 concept. I think the 2009 fusion is going to be pretty "euro" styled, while still being very similar to the current one. They've been talking about moving the two themes together for a while now... the biggest thing here is that fords saying they want global platforms. truly global. and releasing them at the same time.
It would be a huge deal for detroit if they opted to build all the C1 variants at flat rock... well atleast the focus and the C-max. The kuga is almost certainly going to replace the escape.. so where ever that is built.. expect that plant to remain open and get the kuga production.
Mon May 19 2008 10:43 PM
DadzBoyz says
I would agree with PJE. It does appear that the US gets sloppy seconds. Bringing the Kuga here in 2011 when we are in current year 2008 (soon to be 2009) that is a 3 to 4 year delay which is the effective life of a model generation.
I hope they move with the speed and conviction that it appears they have with the Taurus and the new version that is coming this year. If they do, then maybe this is a 2009.5 or 2010 model.
Tue May 20 2008 7:55 AM
chris says
Dadz, good point. I don't think we have a clear indication about whats going on with the taurus though. I mean, yes, we all saw that sexy camera phone picture, which seems to indicate that we're getting the mondeo, but I've already voiced my confusion on the matter. we've got the fusion which is very near the mondeo mechanically and size wise. the 09 fusion is moving to the EUCD 2 platform that is underpinning the new mazda 6 and you can bet your butt that when the mondeo, fusion, and 6 are a couple years old (which will all coincide with 2012 or so) that they'll all be on the same mechanical package. the s60 as well. but the taurus, well thats a really large car. my fear is that the spy picture we've seen is a significantly reworked current model. same platform that underpins the s80, just not so "handsome" (rich speak for ugly but damned good quality). I really get the impression that ford's just going to sex it up.
but you've got a great point. the kuga is selling now in europe. the escape here just got a refresh, but its old. it would be nice to get the kuga soon but I suspect the timing that is talked about in the article is refering to the C2 cars. we're on C1 right now for all of these vehicles but ford isnt going to hold off on C1 cars in north america for 7 or 8 years and then retool all of their facilities for a 2 or 3 year run. the C2 is coming, and they'll retool then, and perform a sort of quantum leap in north america.
It would be interesting as hell to see them rebadge all of these cars and sell them as mercurys. I'd love like heck to see that happen. charge what ever you have to for the cars. people will buy them. and this would force lincoln up market to compete with caddy,.. my ultimate dream for caddy.
Tue May 20 2008 7:57 AM
chris says
excuse me... my ultimate dream for lincoln. caddy is already impressing the heck out of me. (they'd blow me away if they came out with a great C segment car, that could actually match some low market pricing).
Tue May 20 2008 1:48 PM
Gus says
Should have done this a few years ago. Better late than never...
Thu Jul 24 2008 8:54 PM
brian says
The C-Max has been the "toast of Europe" for years now. Its great that they're finally bringing it to the US, but why is it taking until 2011? They already own and use the dies, don't they?
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