Hollywood_North GT

I think that article summed it up best >> Although we can commend Ford for its efforts (and expenditure), we doubt that these kind of subtle tweaks are going to change public perception about a model in need of much more than a nose job and some botox.

You can guild a pile of sh*t with gold, but at the end of the day, it will still smell like a pile of sh*t.

Of course, I would never refer to the "new" Focus as a pile of sh*t.

Evil_Capri

Seems the pile of sh*t received a pretty decent review, albeit one. Favorable even, some may read . .

http://www.thecarconnection.com/Vehi...3393.html?pg=1

Knight

I recently took a trip from chicago to lower michigan in my 2007 focus.

Did a few tricks for mileage and kept speed around 60-65 and i managed 42mpg.

that'll do focus...that'll do.

codeman94

wow....nice

Hollywood_North GT

Well, the ultimate test will be the sales figures.

Vermillion06

lower price, more hp and torque than Civic and Corolla, Sync system, bigger trunk,new look, that's the strategy.

http://info.detnews.com/autosconsume...x.cfm?id=26922

A positive review of the 08 Focus.

rhumb

Trouble is, you still have to look at the thing ... my eyes, MY EYES ... perhaps a better car for blind drivers and artic winters.

In any case, this last-millenium chassis flypapered with every badly rendered stylistic cliche in the book is clearly a time and money biding move while Ford tried to desperately staunch its corporate blood loss and get a truly world class small car here to their U.S. showrooms. Should have been the current Euro Focus already, but Ford U.S., in its managerial and strategic ineptnetude, botched that all up.

Zastava_101

Yeah, but Civic and Corolla have a lot better reputation than Focus.

Vermillion06

In your opinion, which is clouded by the bitterness that it's not the C1 Focus.

Now, I don't think it's the world's most beautiful design, but compared to the other cars in it's class in the US it doesn't look out of place, and looks a bit more aggressive than Corolla & Civic. Sort of like when Mr. Potatohead puts on his "angry eyes".

Which cars in the Focus' class in the US are bought solely for their sexy styling anyway?

How old is the 2008 Corolla chassis? The 9th gen Corolla debuted in Asia in 2000 (2003 in the US) and was based on a chassis from 1997. It's been pretty much unchanged since it's debut.

Arghhh! Coulda ,Shoulda, Woulda... Get a Mazda 3 or that C1 based Volvo if its really that important to have a C1 based car. Or move to Europe. Or, in about two years, the C2 will be here.
.

Knight

When you are driving it you never have to look at it. so maybe its better to buy one then not.

Hollywood_North GT

It's not about bitterness. It's about Ford getting its sh*t together. If Ford goes under, it won't hurt him, or me...or most of the buying public.

But it'll sure hurt Ford.

Did you just say the new Focus looks like Mr. Potatohead? Are you trying to convince us here or what?

That's like saying, "Everyone else is turning out a humdrum product, so it must be OK if we turn out a humdrum product, too."

I hate to break it to you, Mr. "I always drink the Ford Kool-Aid", but that also-ran strategy won't cut it anymore. The Focus' specs are smack dab in the middle of the Vanilla pile, and do nothing to make the Focus stand out as a car that people would choose over Civic and Corolla, who are the entrenched leaders with a staunchly supportive buying public. "Look, our car is pretty much as good in several key respects, and even has a few features they don't!" Ummmm, sorry, not good enough in this day & age. Despite improved quality, consumers still aren't giving domestics a chance on many of their vehicles >> Those negative impressions are now souring efforts by Ford Motor Co., General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC to halt their long slide in U.S. market share. And for these Detroit auto makers, persuading import buyers to even consider a U.S. car is becoming the new battleground.

I know you think Ford can do no wrong, but cars like the "new" Focus don't help matters.

The difference is it's working for them, isn't it? You've got to stop comparing the import strategy with Ford, because their recent history is MUCH different.

Some might argue two years too late. But we'll see.

Vermillion06

Yes it is. The 2008 Focus is not judged on it's own merits by the "enthusiasts" on the interweb, every criticsm of the car alway has "waahh, this sucks! the C1 should be here in the US" somewhere in it. The C1 Focus is not coming to the US, end of story. Whining about it now is not going to change that, but the C2 will be here.


Ford is, as you so crudely put it, is working on "getting its sh*t toghether" and the 08 Focus is an evolutionary step toward the C2.

For somebody it won't hurt, you sure gripe about Ford a lot. I don't care about Toyota's well being and I don't spend any time griping about it on Toyota message boards.
Gee Captain Obvious, thank you for that insight! I never would have thought of that myself!!!
Please learn what the term "facetious" means.

Oh, so Ford should just put out products designed in a vacuum, not paying any attention to what any of the competition is like? They should have spent enough on materials and design to market the finest $30K base price compacts in the entry level field when everybody else is selling cars at half that?


It matches or exceeds the two sales leaders on horsepower & beats both on torque. The Cobalt beats all of them on horsepower and torque, but that's not helping the Cobalt beat the Civic and Corolla in sales is it? There's more to the car than just the spec sheet.

So what should they have done, seeing how Ford is cashed-strapped right now and the C2 not ready till '09/'10? I hear a lot griping from you but I haven't seen any concrete answers. And don't give that "they should bring over the C1 Focus" crap.

Oh please. I know the people in Ford management have made a lot of mistakes and then bailed out on their golden parachutes in the past, but the team in charge now is working to fix them. They're making some progress, but a lot is working against them. People like you aren't helping.

Ford invested a lot of money in this refresh, it's not just "let's slap a new front fascia on the same body and call it good." They made a lot of improvements in NVH, weight savings ,an 80% new body, a new bodystyle (the coupe), and added some nice features such as Sync. So what should Ford have done? Just thrown all that investment away and abandon the compact car market until the C2 arrives because some dorks on the internet want Euro Fords and nothing else will do for them?
It proves most people don't know or care how old the chassis the car is built on is, as long as works okay and it has a good reputation.

If the authors of every road test of the '08 Focus didn't feel the need to point out that it's not an all-new chassis, people wouldn't know or care. No one points out how "long in the tooth" the Corolla is.

The updated C170 chassis should work better than just "okay", considering it was already considered one of the best already.

Vermillion06

2 more reviews:

http://cars.about.com/od/ford/fr/08_focus.htm

http://www.carpages.ca/go/roadtest/2...road_test.aspx

Hollywood_North GT

Let's hope Ford is still healthy enough by the time the C2 arrives to benefit from its arrival. More importantly, let's hope Ford of North America doesn't muck up the design of the Focus C2. The European kinetic design is just fine, thank you very much.

Hang on, you think the term, "Getting its sh*t together" is crude? My deepest apologies. I didn't realize I was burning your schoolgirl ears...assuming there are actually any schoolgirls left with ears to burn. Next time I'll mince words to accomodate your delicate sensibilities.

And the '08 Focus is in no way "an evolutionary step towards the C2." At least, I hope to god it isn't!

Well perhaps that's because you don't own a Toyota, nor do you have any vested interest in the company. On the other hand, I just bought a Ford, and would like to see the company thrive again. Patting management on the back and giving them a cookie when they turn out a turd like the new Focus doesn't help, nor is it concomitant with an effective near-term strategy to wipe clean a sea of red ink.

You resemble that remark.

Please learn the correct context in which to use it.

Stop making excuses for a blown strategy, shortsightedness and corporate waste! They should look at what works in the company (Ford is the #1 selling brand in the UK for a reason) and find ways to apply that strategy - and if necessary, products - here.

You're making my point for me. The specs alone won't sell the Focus. What will sell it - or any new Ford, for that matter - is innovation of the kind we saw in the mid-'80s with the Taurus. That car took the automotive world by storm by offering bold new design, well packaged features, and competitive performance. The Focus offers nothing that will catch the consumers' eyes, nor which is compelling enough to lure them away from the entrenched segment leaders.

What they should have done was not to have put themselves in this mess to begin with. But at least if they were going to redesign this current Focus, they could have come up with something less unattractive. Good design doesn't cost any more than bad design.

Au contraire, mon frère. Quantifiably I am. I just bought a fully loaded '07 Mustang, thereby making my contribution to corporate management's golden parachute fund.

Cadillac allegedly invested a great deal of money in the interior of the first generation CTS, too. And it was universally panned. What they ought to have done was to figure out what it is that consumers choose over and over again, and why, and then improve upon it.

For cars of the Focus' ilk, that's probably true. But people are influenced by what they see.

No one has to...it's selling by the bushel-full.

hi5.0

There's a lot of Mazda 3's running around here and a nice smattering of Volvo S40's too. Their popularity convinces me that the C1 chassis is a winner despite its' higher pricing, and Ford could've cashed in and built on that. Instead, Ford decides to "Aztecify" and "Caliberate" Ford buyers with the '08 Focus until the C2 arrives. Ford better do a darn good job with it because the new Corolla will show up around then, along w/a revamped Civic (given Japanese auto manufacturer's production cycles).

Evil_Capri

Another nice review . .

http://www.autoweek.com/apps/pbcs.dl.../71002005/1065

Zastava_101

Mazda sells only around 100,000 Mazda3s each year. That's pretty low number for compact.

Hollywood_North GT

I'm glad to learn that Ford as at least spent some time working on the underpinnings (at least in this reviewer's opinion), and the interior does seem to be markedly improved, if a bit incohesive design-wise.

But I stand by my assertion that the exterior design is a mess...and unlikely to win over any import-buyers.

There is also this caveat in that article >> Forgive our lack of anticipation for Ford’s new Focus. The 2008 Focus is, after all, the once-beloved original warmed over a second time, nearly a decade after its introduction, while Europe enjoys a new-generation Focus closely related to the Mazda 3.

The reader (aka potential buyer) comments beneath the article say it all.

Vermillion06

Yeah because everything from Europe is so much better than anything from those savages in the "Colonies"...
It's not a C1! It's not a C1! Ford refreshed the C170 for the US market to reflect American buyer's preferences. Why the heck is that a bad thing? Focus hatchbacks don't sell well here, but they do in Europe. The Focus in the US is an entry level car; in Europe, there are two smaller entry level vehicles below the Focus, making the Focus fill the product line position that the Fusion does in the US.

The US is the US;Europe is Europe. They are different markets. Just because some people want the US to be Europe doesn't make it so.
Most reviews of the '08 Focus are positive about the improvements and changes. But some people still can't get over the C1 Focus not coming here; like you, they can't see anything positive about the '08 US Focus simply because it's not the C1.

I'm not making excuses for anyone. I'm telling you people, get over the darned C1 Focus, it's not coming here, and see that the '08 Focus is a pretty good update to a good platform.

How the heck is that making YOUR point? You said it's spec sheet was not impressive and that it's specs fall in the middle range, and that the car wouldn't sell because of that. I said there's more to it than the just spec sheet.
Sync is not innovative? Heck, the Corolla doesn't even offer a MP3 capable CD player! Control Blade rear suspension vs. twist beam? All new, Mustang IUP inspired dashboard and interior? All new styling vs. the same old same old (cough, cough, Corolla). Just because you don't care for the styling doesn't negate any of the other great content in the car.
Such incredibly wise hindsight! Your Monday-morning quarterback skills are superb! And again, more bitterness because it's not the European Focus.

But would it sell as well if everytime the Corolla was mentioned, people were constantly reminded:

"The 2008 Corolla rides on an ancient, outdated chassis (utilizing a bean-counter's choice twist beam rear suspension design) dating to 1997, 11 LONG years ago; the car has not been upgraded and has stayed completely unchanged since it's US debut in 2002, 5 LONG years ago."

Vermillion06

A bunch of people whining about the lack of a hatch and station wagon and the same old "wahh, why don't we get the C1, Ford is doomed!"

Where's the Corolla and Civic hatch and wagon? Hmm?