http://www.autoblog.com/2009/09/15/a...oit-auto-show/

The wait for an all-new Ford Focus in North America will soon be over as Ford has announced that it will debut the car at the Detroit Auto Show in January. The Detroit festivities will mark the global debut of the new global Focus that will be sold here, Europe and the rest of the world.

 

What's the freaking deal with Ford not offering the 3 Door Hatch of the Focus or the Fiesta. If they want the Import/Tuner crowd to take either of them seriously they need to bring the 3 Doors here too. Sorry, but the Focus ZX3 is one of my favorite cars.

 

Here's a wild guess - in the past people weren't buying them?

 

+1! Not what I want to hear. So no 3-door version could mean no RS either? Guess I won't be shopping Ford for a while. Meh. I'll live.

 

Not getting the 3-door initially, but I wouldn't rule it out forever. Same with the Fiesta, in fact the 3-door Fiesta probably makes more business sense to bring here than the Ka.

 

Everyone who is crying there is no 3-door available right away, let me ask you something? Do you wanna guess the take rate of ZX3 hatches that were sold per year, in a percentage? At most it was around 10-15%. AT the most! They sold more wagons than 3-door hatches!

Oh, and don't worry about the RS. We aren't getting the current RS anyhow, as it wasn't for our market. Jost Capito (Joint RS/SVT boss) said the US will most likely get an RS a few years after the launch of the Global Mk III Focus. So they may make the hatch a year 2 thing.

 

While I think a 3-door hatchback would be a good idea, and is certainly the best looking of the Fiestas (if that's any indication of anything), a 5-door hatch ain't necessarily bad judging by the awesome MazdaSpeed 3.

 

Its about time.

 

That's Funny, I see more ZX3's running around here than any other Foci' Second up would be the 4 door.

 

Your in the minority, as up here in the Northeast, its all sedans! The ony 3-doors I see are old SVT models running around.

 

Hatches are super popular in Montreal, I figured maybe they're more popular in urban areas?

 

The five-door hatch is back, it's a start.

 

I for one am excited about the hatch coming back... My daily driver is a Foci 5 Door sedan...

 

It's not so much the Hatch issue for me as it is the longer doors that come from a 2 or 3 door vehicle. I'm 6'4" tall and I cannot stand to drive a car where the B Pillar is beside my head, and against my body as most 4 door vehicles are. I am just not comfortable with having a post blocking my side vision and can only imagine getting in an accident and my head hitting it or it being crushed into my side in the event of a side impact. I Love the Mustang, but I hate the fact that Ford as well as so many other manufacturers don't make many 2 or 3 door cars anymore, considering that most people drive alone a large amount of the time.

 

I see tons of 3 and 5 door hatchbacks here, specially the Yaris Young buyers prefer three doors, but some of them take the 5 door when family hauling capabilities are needed.

 

has there been any spyshots of what the american version will look like?

 

no photos yet, but word is that it'll look fairly similar (front, side) to the upcoming C-Max. here's an article link about that:

http://www.autoblog.com/2009/09/15/a...oit-auto-show/

 

Can someone explain to me if there is any sense in offering a Fiesta and a Focus in the same market?

 

That's like a saying "why offer Fusion and Taurus in the same market."

Fiesta is a city car that will compete with Toyota Yaris and Honda Fit.
Focus is a compact that will compete with Toyota Corolla and Honda Civic.

Basically, Focus is bigger, more powerful and more expensive.

 

thanks for the clear up

i just don't get this whole "city car" segment