First look: Ford Focus, the next generation

FORD has unveiled the look of its second generation Focus.

Shown at this week’s Beijing motor show as the "Focus Concept", the three-box four-door sedan is a thinly disguised version of the production car due to be unveiled at the Paris motor show in September.

The Focus Concept may make its Australian public debut as early as the Sydney motor show in October, seven months before the production version hits our streets in May 2005.

While the current Focus is sourced from Spain and Germany, Australian supplies of Focus II are tipped to emerge from a newly expanded Ford facility in South Africa.

Like today’s car, the next Focus will also be available in three and five-door hatchback varieties.

Everything is new inside and out, although Ford is keeping any cabin details close to its corporate chest for now.

The body is believed to be bigger than before.

It eschews the current car’s pronounced wheelarch fairings and more extreme "New Edge" detailing like the headlight and tail-light design for more geometric forms.

Leaning on the conservative side, there’s a strong resemblance to Ford’s unseen locally Mondeo II sedan around the nose and tail. And the profile benefits from a slightly faster rear window rake.

Reflecting its strong Teutonic stylistic treatments (check out the wheelarches and chunky shoulder line), the Focus II’s design originates from Ford’s European headquarters in Cologne.

Ford says the design of the Focus is purely evolutionary after the current car’s massive march forward from its highly conservative and quite unsuccessful 1990-1998 European Escort.

Ford Asia Pacific design manager Paul Gibson says the car is not revolutionary in its style. Instead it is about building the brand and fitting into the Ford portfolio, sharing forms and characteristics with other Ford cars.

The Focus completes Ford’s C1 small-car trilogy.

Its platform also underpins the well received Mazda 3 and just released Volvo S40 II/V50 twins, as well as the locally unseen Focus C-Max mini-MPV.

Meanwhile, the Focus Concept’s more fanciful de-tails were designed at Ford Asia Pacific’s head office in Melbourne.

Under the supervision of design director Simon Butterworth, Mr Gibson and his Aussie team were responsible for the look of the Concept’s headlights, tail-lights, bumpers and number plate valance. Mr Gibson lent a helping hand to all the Focus II range during his recent two-year tenure in Germany.

With the help of supplier Osram Opto Semiconductors, the headlights use LED technology to convey a continuous "ring of light" – a theme reflected in the fog lights and “bubble-detailing” 3D-like tail-lights.

---

At its European launch its radical look soon took a back seat as the Focus’ exceptional dynamic aptitude became obvious

---

Polished seven-spoke 19-inch alloy wheels, brightwork around the windows, side repeaters and mirrors, as well as a cool-metallic hue called Sapphire Ice, complete the show car additions to the basic 2005 Focus sedan silhouette.

Today’s LR Focus may only be 21 months old locally, but as a six-year-old abroad, its design and influence has led to a sea change in small car development.

At its European launch its radical look soon took a back seat as the Focus’ exceptional dynamic aptitude became obvious, the upshot of its keen steering, rigid body and sophisticated (and thus costly) “Control Blade” independent rear suspension.

Small car buyers, once believed to be a very conservative bunch, consequently flocked to Ford’s edgy small car, making it a global bestseller for several years in succession.

The Focus’ success spurned on Renault to reveal the brash Megane II, currently Europe’s best-selling car, while forcing Volkswagen to trash its long-standing torsion bar rear suspension layout for an independent device similar to that on the Ford.

Come September, will the emboldened European buyers baulk at the Focus II’s relative visual timidity? VW’s fifth generation Golf, launched a year earlier, has struggled to overcome consumer apathy towards its samey styling, although sales have recently picked up.

In Australia, however, the Focus has found it tough without discounting, primarily because of bad press regarding its lacklustre base model engines. It has also fallen victim to the $19,990 cutthroat small car price war.

Former Ford Australia chief Geoff Polites admitted the only way to successfully compete in the current small car segment was to offer the Focus at that price – a difficult task as the range is expensively sourced from either Spain or Germany.

Ford Australia’s new boss Tom Gorman said the Beijing event was chosen as the Focus sedan’s debut to underscore the importance of the Chinese market in general (it’s now the third biggest as well as the fastest growing) and the importance of three-box vehicles in Asia in particular.

Displaying the Melbourne-moulded Focus Concept also shows the world how capable Ford Australia’s design and engineering team are.