Ford Focuses on South Africa

FORD Australia is expected to import the next generation Focus from South Africa rather than Europe, a move sure to make the car more price competitive against the cut-throat Japanese and South Korean small car competition.

The only hitch for Ford? The Focus is not built in South Africa and Ford Motor Company has not announced plans to do so.

But impeccable Blue Oval sources say the announcement of the manufacture of Focus at Ford’s Silverton plant will be made soon and that the car will be exported to Australia.

And Ford SA has offered a hint, announcing last September that it would start producing two new vehicles for export under a one billion Rand investment program.

While one is a commercial vehicle, the other was described in a statement as a “passenger vehicle with volumes of about 41,000 a year, 30,000 of which will be exported”.

Exports of this “brand new model” will start in the first quarter of 2005.

The second generation of the Focus is due to be unveiled at the 2004 Paris motor show in September and is effectively all-new as it is based on the same C1 small car platform as the Mazda3 and the Volvo S40.

The first hint of the next Focus' styling has come with the C-Max compact people-mover launched in Europe this year. Based on C1, it's relatively conservative look is said to be not too far away from Focus.

Sourcing from South Africa, where labor rates are cheap, would not only ease Ford Australia’s pricing challenge brought on by the Aussie dollar exchange rate against the Euro, it would also mean potentially getting the car sooner.

The Australians have consistently battled to get attention from the big European plants where Focus - and for that matter the Fiesta light car – are built.

A South African production line at Silverton, predominantly based on export, would be much keener to help the Australians get the car sooner.

And there is no trailblazing to be done here in terms of carving out a supply line as BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Toyota all import from South Africa. Indeed, Land Rover exports the Defender 90 to Australia from the Silverton plant.

Asked about the report, a cautious Ford Australia president Geoff Polites would only comment: “If the car was made somewhere else, that (import to Australia) could be possible”.

But whatever the solution, he stressed Focus would stay as Ford Australia’s small car choice: “We want European driving dynamics, that’s where we want to be”.

Focus has been hampered on pricing in Australia since it replaced Laser in October 2002 with a base price of $22,080 including air-conditioning.

“Literally the month we launched both Toyota and Mazda launched and went in at $19,990 and we held at $22,080,” recalls a rueful Mr Polites.

“And that was one of the mistakes we made, we launched at a premium price. Our pricing is not that far from them now … but it seems you have to be at $19,990 for a C-class (small) car. It seems to be a real mental thing, about $19,990 or preferably $18,990.

“And it’s a hell of a lot of car for that price. So that market is very price sensitive.” The Focus commands a 7.2 per cent share of the small car market in 2003 with 11,502 sales to the end of November. The dominant category performer, the Corolla, commands 20.6 per cent and has scored a stunning 33,091 sales.

Mr Polites has said he would like Focus to claim as much as 12 per cent of the segment, which in 2003 will total around 175,000 sales.

The Ford move will make Holden feel all the lonelier, as it faces up to the import of a new generation – and more expensive – Astra from Europe in 2004.

Already Holden has watched Barina light car volume plunge 40 per cent in 2003 as the exchange rate against the Euro has forced price rises, and it must fear a sales decline for the new Astra too.

Meanwhile, there is also the prospect, albeit further down the track, that Ford Australia will import the Fiesta light car from China, following the lead of Volkswagen, which will import the Polo notchback from Shanghai starting early in 2004.

But our Ford source indicated that was still some time away.

Production of a previous generation Fiesta sedan (or Ikon as it is known in some other markets) started in left-hand drive at the Chang’an plant in China last January. The latest Fiesta is launched in Australia next April.