When we see things like this, we feel like Bruce Banner... having to contain our anger... at not getting... the Euro Focus. But hopefully tomorrow our fortunes will change, and if they do, here' s a look at the Focus we could get in 2011.
We were happy enough about the second-gen Focus, and this is even better. With a massive front maw, revised panels throughout, and a well executed sportback rear, the Focus Mk. 3 is, as the English would say, a bit of all right. The highlight show continues inside with better materials and an HMI-like control system. The UK will get the car later this year.
Although this Focus isn't slated (yet) for an RS version, it will put on an ST badge and mods at some point, and will come in three-, four-, and five-door variants, plus a wagon and a convertible. And if you're in Spain, you'll get a special edition diesel Focus WRC-S, with a 2.0-liter four-cylinder pumping 134 bhp. Each one of 666 samples will be signed by Ford WRC driver Marcus Gronholm. Prices have not been announced for any of the new Focus models.
Nary a month week day goes by that we're not told of the imminent importation of Ford's grass-is-greener Euro models. The Fiesta has been approved for U.S. consumption in 2010, and even though we've heard the Focus shtick before, it would appear that it's finally coming to fruition in late 2010 or early 2011. But Ford can't rely on just one product to justify sales of the next-generation C1 platform in the States (there's also the Volvo S40/C30 and Mazda3), so it's looking to bring two other Blue Oval-branded models to justify the expense.
Speaking with Automotive News, Ford's president of the Americas, Mark Fields, confirmed that the U.S. is slated to receive multiple C-segment vehicles that have already debuted in Europe and Japan. The first vehicle that could conceivably be brought to market is the recently released Kuga crossover, which shares the C1 platform and could be marketed as the next Escape or Mercury Mariner if we're lucky. The second model is the Ford C-Max, which is a more modern take on the traditional people mover, and would provide SUV refugees a compelling case to downsize their rides into anything but a minivan.
Fields didn't divulge when the European product onslaught would take place, but it's a safe bet that if either vehicle immigrates across the Atlantic, we'll be seeing them around the turn of the decade.
During the SAE World Congress in Detroit, Ford's product chief, Derrick Kuzak, told attendees that the next generation Focus will benefit from the joint efforts of FoMoCo's engineers here in the U.S. and abroad. The redesigned Focus is set to debut sometime in 2010 or 2011 and will be built off the C1 platform that underpins the current Euro Focus. According to Kuzak, 87-percent of the parts will be sourced from Ford's global parts bin in a move to cut costs and globalize Ford's engineering process. While we've heard this numerous times before, this is the first time a definitive timeline has been outlined for the official entry of the superior C1 platform to the U.S. market. Here's hoping that Ford sees the light and we finally get ST and RS variants of the Focus here in the States.
