Just saw a new 2011 Focus. Oh dear...
Discussion
On the way to work this morning (through Dunton area) i saw a new Focus coming towards me. This one:

But in black, on probably 16" wheels. And my God it looked bland.
It could've been any Kia, Hyundai or generic US small car. The back end was awful too, very bloated.
Really, really disappointing.

But in black, on probably 16" wheels. And my God it looked bland.
It could've been any Kia, Hyundai or generic US small car. The back end was awful too, very bloated.
Really, really disappointing.
Ive got to say though. Its got a bit more somthing going on compared to a VW golf. Now a Golf is not a bad looking car by anymeans but its bland.
Im not sure where Ford is going with their new designs but one thing is for sure, they will probably sell.
Btw could it of been a new C-Max that you saw as they were only released to dealers a couple of weeks ago and the New Focus isnt due untill January?

Im not sure where Ford is going with their new designs but one thing is for sure, they will probably sell.
Btw could it of been a new C-Max that you saw as they were only released to dealers a couple of weeks ago and the New Focus isnt due untill January?

Edited by roscozs on Monday 8th November 10:38
Beefmeister said:
I just think it's a shame. I'm a certified car geek, and i barely noticed it driving past.
The new Cmax is the same. We got one in at work and I walked past it twice before noticing it and I sell the bloody things. It's very nice to drive though and I am impressed with the interior. Reminds me of twhen I first saw the interior of the original Focus. Quite a departure from the boxy dashboards of the previous model.It was definitely a new Focus. FYI my drive to work takes me past Ford's Dunton engineering centre, so there are regularly many prototypes and validation cars in the area.
Plus i live in Brentwood, so many folks from the Warley office live around there. There's a guy up my road who had a camo'd Mondeo as his daily driver for ages!
Plus i live in Brentwood, so many folks from the Warley office live around there. There's a guy up my road who had a camo'd Mondeo as his daily driver for ages!
roscozs said:
Ive got to say though. Its got a bit more somthing going on compared to a VW golf. Now a Golf is not a bad looking car by anymeans but its bland.
I actually think the Golf stands out because it has a very classy design. It has crisp lines, and a very cohesive design. This Focus is a bit of a mess of lines, angles, vents and the lights at the back are a mess. To have moved away from the vertical lights is a real shame as they were a Focus trademark.Edited by Beefmeister on Monday 8th November 10:58
In lots of ways the new car looks like a Mark 2.5 rather than a Mark 3.
Given that the Mark 2 was a fairly major departure from the original there must have been something in the design of the original car that Ford wanted to leave behind. I mean, why wasn't the Mark 2 a refresh/update of the original?
Was the original particularly expensive to make, to fix or would it fail new safety legislation?
Given that the Mark 2 was a fairly major departure from the original there must have been something in the design of the original car that Ford wanted to leave behind. I mean, why wasn't the Mark 2 a refresh/update of the original?
Was the original particularly expensive to make, to fix or would it fail new safety legislation?
The biggest problem is that most volume manufacturers like Ford/Vauxhall/VW/Audi etc don't need to take risks with car design. People already buy their cars and don't want to deal with challenging looks, the MK1 Fiat Multipla won critical acclaim but was as ugly as sin, so nobody bought it. The last 2 generations of Vx Astra sold in droves and yet I rarely heard much positive said about them in their base model formats.
How could ford have made the new focus look much different?
They have used the sillouette from the current fiesta and Smax, and have updated the interior, ride, handling and engines. Ford are a business and the new focus will sell in droves, they have for a change had a chance to look at the competition and tweak their car to be better in the ways that matter to most of the car buying public.
Funny how we never get a thread about how bland the new 911 variant is when it invariably is based on a 50 year old design, surely a sports car brand like Porsche should be pushing the design boundaries a lot more than a company like ford whose primary function is to make profit for its shareholders (and in the process safeguard jobs).
How could ford have made the new focus look much different?
They have used the sillouette from the current fiesta and Smax, and have updated the interior, ride, handling and engines. Ford are a business and the new focus will sell in droves, they have for a change had a chance to look at the competition and tweak their car to be better in the ways that matter to most of the car buying public.
Funny how we never get a thread about how bland the new 911 variant is when it invariably is based on a 50 year old design, surely a sports car brand like Porsche should be pushing the design boundaries a lot more than a company like ford whose primary function is to make profit for its shareholders (and in the process safeguard jobs).
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