New Ford Focus: Advanced Technology, Fine Craftsmanship and Improved Efficiency Elevates World’s Best Selling Nameplate
- New Focus delivers sleek, emotional new design with the bold new face of Ford and a beautifully crafted cockpit-like interior
- New powertrain line-up for South Africa includes new 1.0-litre and 1.5-litre EcoBoost petrol engine; fuel economy improved by as much as 19 per cent over current Focus*.
- South Africa introduction in Q4 2014
PRETORIA, Feb. 24, 2014 – The new Ford Focus elevates the world’s best-selling nameplate with a bolder, more emotive exterior design, a finely crafted, intuitive new interior, a suite of life-enhancing new technologies and major fuel economy improvements.
Debuting today at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona and unveiled next week at the Geneva Motor Show, the new Focus’s sporty character and driving appeal is burnished by a striking horizontal grille and cockpit-inspired interior. The new Focus, on sale from the fourth quarter of 2014, marks the South African debut of the 1.5 litre EcoBoost petrol engine, bringing the total of EcoBoost engines available in South Africa to four.
“We weren’t satisfied with being No. 1; we wanted to blow people away with a stunning new version of the Focus,” said Stephen Odell, president of Ford of Europe, Middle East and Africa. “New Focus marries modern design and leading fuel efficiency with the fun-to-drive DNA for which Focus is rightly acclaimed.”
Ford first launched the Focus in 1998 and since then more than 12 million vehicles have been sold worldwide. The current Focus was confirmed last month as the world’s best-selling vehicle nameplate based on Ford’s analysis of the Polk registration data for the first nine months of 2013**. Ford estimates Focus sales globally reached 1.1 million in 2013, including more than 300,000 in China, making it the best-selling passenger car in the fastest-growing new car market in the world.
Sophisticated design
Ford has crafted a more sophisticated and advanced Focus with a redesign that reflects the One Ford global design language that carries through to the new Fusion and Fiesta.
The new Focus has a lower, wider stance, with a new bonnet, front fascia and grille. The bonnet is sculpted with a dynamic shape from the front pillar to the corners of the upper part of the inverted trapezoid grille to deliver a strong, proud look.
Slimmer, more chiselled front headlamps and more rectangular, elongated fog-lamps add to the bolder front end. Subtle chrome details add to the feeling of elegance while the rear of the car also is sleeker with a new fascia and tailgate arrangement, as well as thinner tail lamps.
“The vision was to add more emotion to the design of Focus,” said Martin Smith, executive design director, Ford of Europe. “The new Focus is more toned, and more athletic, with more refined surface language; and clearly offers a promise of the drive experience to come.”
When redesigning the interior of the new Focus, Ford listened to consumer feedback and responded with a more intuitive layout, complemented by a steering wheel and central stack with fewer controls and switches. The new black satin trim and chrome detailing contribute to a cleaner, more modern look, and more logical and intuitive functions.
New Focus customers will also enjoy a quieter ride, achieved by thicker carpets, thicker side window glass, and improved engine bay insulation.
“We’ve responded to a clear customer desire for more simplicity inside the car, creating a clearer visual connection between the key components and significantly reducing the number of buttons in the cabin,” Smith added.
Advanced driving technologies
The new Focus is the first Ford to offer Perpendicular Parking, a new hands-free*** parking technology that helps drivers reverse into spaces alongside other cars.
The current Ford Kuga introduced parallel parking aid Active Park Assist that, at the push of a button, uses ultrasonic sensors to locate parking spaces and steer the vehicle while the driver controls the accelerator and brake. The addition of two new sensors to the rear of the new Focus enables Perpendicular Parking to operate in the same way.
The extra sensors that come with Perpendicular Parking functionality also enable Ford to offer for the first time in South Africa technologies that help drivers as they manoeuvre out of parking spaces:
•Cross Traffic Alert warns drivers reversing out of a parking space of vehicles that may soon be crossing behind them. Operating with radar at a range of up to 40 metres, the system will issue three distinct warning signals if it detects a vehicle approaching
•Park-Out Assist helps drivers as they exit a parallel parking space. After the driver has chosen either the left or right hand side the system operates the steering while the driver operates the accelerator and brake
Ford also has improved its popular Active City Stop collision avoidance system, which pre-charges the brakes and – if the driver still does not respond – reduces engine torque and automatically applies the brakes to reduce the impact of collisions. It has been enhanced to operate at speeds of up to 50 km/h, compared to 30 km/h with the current version.
The new Focus will also feature Ford’s Lane Departure Warning and Lane Keeping Aid systems. The Lane Departure Warning alerts the driver if they are about to exit their lane if they have not used the indicator to signal they will be doing this. The driver is warned by a vibration which is felt through the rim of the steering wheel.
In addition to the warning provided the Lane Keeping Aid provides steering torque assistance to steer the vehicle back into its lane, if the driver did intend to change lanes the steering assistance can easily be overridden by steering firmly in the direction they want to travel.
Fuel efficient new engines
The new Focus offers significantly improved fuel efficiency* on many versions compared to the current model thanks to new powertrain options.
The new Focus will be the first vehicle in South Africa to offer the new fuel efficient* 1.5-litre EcoBoost (110kW and132kW) petrol engine. The Focus will also be offered with the 1.0-litre EcoBoost petrol engine (91kW) that last year was chosen by a third of Focus customers in Europe, and was named the 2012 and 2013 International Engine of the Year.
“The new Focus will offer engines that deliver a compelling combination of significantly improved fuel efficiency* and surprising power,” said Joe Bakaj, vice president, Product Development, Ford of Europe. “The new 1.5-litre EcoBoost petrol engine will directly benefit from technologies pioneered by the 1.0-litre EcoBoost– including an integrated exhaust manifold and shorter stroke to help deliver a more economical, smoother-running and freer-revving engine.”
To meet growing customer demand for Focus, which is sold in more than 140 markets, Ford has now ramped up capacity worldwide to build the car in eight plants on four continents. Factories in Germany, U.S., Russia, China, Thailand, Vietnam, Taiwan and Argentina have a combined capacity to produce more than 1.5 million Focus vehicles annually at a rate of more than two vehicles per minute. In Europe, Ford builds a new Focus every 90 seconds.
