What is it?
In its pomp, the Ford Focus was a giant of our continent’s car market worth more than half-a-million annual European-market registrations; but to find a year in which it recorded even half of that tally now you have to look back more than a decade. Landmark car or not, this hatchback’s sales fortunes are dwindling, and that helps to explain quite a lot about Ford’s latest model line overhaul for it.
This brings a refreshed look, a new cabin layout and plenty of new infotainment and active safety features for the Focus, but it disguises plenty of cuts too. Where a couple of years ago there was a range of three- and four-cylinder petrol and diesel engines in the car, now only the originally entry-level ‘EcoBlue’ options remain on the diesel side, while the upper-level 1.5-litre petrol options have been dropped also.
Ford is using its 48-volt mild hybrid technology to bring a little variety back into the Focus’s technical armoury. The firm’s multi-award-winning three-pot Ecoboost petrol motor can be had with or without this simplified hybrid arrangement; producing up to 153bhp and 177lb ft, if you have it; and now also in combination with a seven-speed twin-clutch gearbox for the first time (although our test car had a six-speed manual).
The Focus’s showroom range is now made up of entry-level ‘Trend’, mid-range ‘Titanium’, sporty ‘ST-Line’ and crossover-inspired ‘Active’ trim levels, and of regular hatchback and five-door estate bodystyles. Ford’s rather ill-fated ‘Vignale’ luxury trim level, meanwhile, has been turned into a glorified options package available on all but the bottom-rung car.
On an ST-Line car it gets you a ‘B&O’ premium audio system, an alloy wheel upgrade, ‘Sensico’ synthetic heated leather seats, digital instruments, a wireless charging pad, a ski hatch and some styling touches. It’ll cost you £2200, which could seem steep on a ‘regular’ Focus that might already cost more than £30,000 before you tick any options boxes - but that’s the territory in which this car now finds itself.
The Focus’s volume-selling glory days are behind it; in order to make financial sense for Ford, it now has to turn a profit via the most direct route available - and that means offering more to the customer than it used to both inside and out.
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Looks cheap outside and inside and bears some unfortunate resemblance to that awful Maserati Grecale.
Maybe that reflects worse on the Maserati than the Ford. But both are tired looking things, not fit to be produced at all.
Getting out of it's depth and how can a 29k look so cheap inside. Below average performance and not that economical, 1 series is way better even allowing for bling. Poor effort ford and you'll be finished sometime soon if it wasn't for your amercian business bailing you out.
I'm speechless. I suppose the upcoming Kuga facelift will suffer the same insanity.
Don't Ford want to sell cars anymore or what?
And what about the engines? They're hardly setting the world alight are they?