Ford Focus News
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Car companies draw inspiration from the strangest of places. The styling of the 2010 Nissan Cube was apparently inspired by the look of a bulldog in sunglasses, and the fins of many 1950s cars were a homage to the space race. However, we've not yet seen car technology inspired by a chocolate bar - until now. In the ongoing pursuit of reducing weight, Ford has created what it calls 'MuCell' technology to reduce the weight of plastics, inspired by the Aero chocolate bar sold in several markets around the world. What makes an Aero an Aero are the thousands of air bubbles inside the bar that give...
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Ford On The Fight Against Potholes At European Test Centers
If you live somewhere with particularly changeable weather and low temperatures during the winter you'll be familiar with potholes. The broken road surfaces and large holes that result can play havoc with traffic and vehicles, damaging suspension, wheels, tires and bodywork and even causing...
Antony Ingram -
Video: Up Close With The 2012 Ford Focus ST
Unlike the usual Euro hot-hatch tantalization, this video is a preview of things to come right here in the U.S. of A. Confirmed for sale here last September, the 2012 Focus ST should be making its way to 'Merika later this year. This video, showing off the show-car's Tangerine Scream orange in more...
Nelson Ireson -
Video: Tanner Foust & Justin Bell Flog The 2012 Focus, Each Other
We're still waiting patiently for the Focus ST, but in the mean time, Ford is plugging away at promoting the standard car. But that's not the most interesting part of this video. Think what you will about Tanner Foust's role on Top Gear USA (or Battle of the Supercars with Paul "Red Mist" Tracy)...
Nelson Ireson -
Ford Counting On In-Car Technology For New 2012 Focus
Ford is aiming to prove that you don't need a big car to enjoy big car technology when it launches the 2012 Ford Focus in March. We've already taken a look at Ford's 'Torque Hole Filling' auto transmission which should make the six-speed auto quicker, more efficient and more refined than ever...
Antony Ingram -
2012 Ford Focus Has 'Torque Hole Filling' Auto Trans Tech
Changing gear is a necessary evil. Of course, for driving enthusiasts it can be a challenge and a pleasure, and in cars with automatic transmissions you can sit back and let the car do the work for you, but the downside with the shifting process is always the momentary pause in progress...
Antony Ingram -
Ford's U.S. lineup is about to change in a very significant way. And as the automaker emphasized in its Detroit Auto Show press conference, with several high-volume small car models expected to arrive this year and next, you'll soon see plenty of smaller and greener alternatives in Ford's lineup. But to dealerships that have long subsisted on heavy sales of pickups and SUVs, it might take a change in sales attitude—and some new training. A cadence to focus on one at a time "Really, we have a nice cadence of rollout this year," said Jim Farley, Ford's vice president for global marketing...
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2011 Detroit Auto Show: 2011 Ford Vertrek Concept Live Photos
Ford this morning introduced its sleek new Vertrek concept, which hints at the look of a future Ford mass-market crossover. Building on the European Kuga and eschewing any semblance of the Escape that it might replace—and looking more like a taller version of the 2012 Ford Focus five-door...
Bengt Halvorson -
2011 Detroit Auto Show Video: 2012 Ford Focus ST
Hot hatches, how we love thee. Punchy, pint-sized, yet utilitarian and able to fly (just) under the radar, these do-it-all wonders never cease to please. The 2012 Ford Focus ST is no exception, and this video even treats us to a bit of turbo spool action. As B-roll footage, it's not particularly...
Nelson Ireson -
CES 2011: 2012 Ford Focus Electric Live Shots
Leaf and Volt had better watch out, because the Blue Oval just let loose its EV contender, the 2012 Focus Electric, and if first impressions are any basis, it might just be the best of the bunch. Why? It looks like a normal, attractive hatchback, yet it packs all the EV-goodness of the Leaf (or...
Nelson Ireson -
CES 2011: Ford Focus Electric Live Photos
The Ford Focus Electric just rolled across the stage at the 2011 CES, and we have a small handful of photos of the car with CEO Alan Mulally. We'll have some more images and angles shortly, but for now, enjoy the show. For full details on the new Focus Electric, be sure to check out...
Nelson Ireson -
CES 2011: Ford Launches MyFord Mobile App For Focus Electric
The Volt has its app, the Prius has one too. Now the Ford Focus Electric has joined the party with the MyFord Mobile app. Offering smartphone users the ability to monitor and control their vehicle remotely, the app also packs EV-specific features. Like what, you ask? Like "value charging," which...
Nelson Ireson -
The first North American Ford to get torque vectoring control will be the 2012 Focus. Ford is pitching the system as a safety- and performance-enhancing addition that helps the car "carve through turns like a downhill skier." We're not convinced. First, we should understand how the system works. According to Ford, the torque-vectoring (TV) system works by applying "slight braking force" to the drive wheel most likely to slip during throttle application. In our experience, that's typically the inside wheel when exiting an aggressive turn. Ford claims the system's action is "imperceptible" to...
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2012 Ford Focus Production Kicks Off In Germany
The new 2012 Ford Focus is already under early production here in the U.S. in both sedan and hatchback form, but Ford is ramping up its three-continent, 120-market production push for the rest of the world starting with the Saarlous Assembly Plant in Germany. The punchy Focus ST variant won't enter...
Nelson Ireson -
Ford Debunks 2012 Focus Coupe Rumors Via Facebook
Mark Schirmer of Ford Communications has put a brutal end to rumors of a 2012 Ford Focus Coupe through a posting made today to Facebook. Fret not, Blue Oval lovers, the 247-horsepower 2012 Focus ST hatch (pictured) is still headed our way. But for those that had entertained fancies of two- or...
Nelson Ireson -
Sporty Ford Focus Coupe In The Works?
About a year ago we brought you reports that Ford was considering a revival of the European Capri, a sporty coupe model that dates back to the 1960s. Those reports claimed that the new Ford Focus would eventually spawn a successor to the Capri in the form of a new coupe that could be on sale by the...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
2010 Los Angeles Auto Show: 2010 Ford Focus Race Concept
The 2011 Ford Fiesta is going rallying factory-style with the R2 Package unveiled earlier this year, and now its slightly bigger brother, the new 2012 Ford Focus, is getting similar treatment. At the 2010 Los Angeles Auto Show today Ford is rolling out the Focus Race Concept, built to compete in...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
2011 CES Picks 2012 Ford Focus As Official Car
With the year drawing to a close, it's time to set your phone reminders to January 6-9 for the annual 2011 Consumer Electronics Show, CES. For the car crowd, the CES has become an important stop on the show circuit, thanks to in-car technologies like SYNC, iDrive and iPad making their ways into the...
Martin Padgett -
The 2011 Ford Fiesta is going rallying factory-style with the R2 Package unveiled yesterday, and now its slightly bigger brother, the 2011 Focus, is getting similar treatment--but this time on the pavement. The Focus will be the base of Ford's global touring car racing program, with the British Touring Car Championship leading the way. If you're not familiar with BTCC or World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) action, you should be. It's some of the most raucous, hotly-contested, fender-to-fender action you'll find on four wheels. So picking the Focus to enter the highly competitive touring car...
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2012 Ford Focus Gets Sport, Titanium Handling Package Upgrades
Ford's new Fiesta may be getting most of the media blast, but the 2012 Focus isn't being forgotten about by the home office. Ford announced today two new packages for the Focus to sharpen its look and make the car more responsive and agile-feeling on the road. The upgrades come in the form of the...
Nelson Ireson -
2010 Paris Show: 2012 Ford Focus ST, Video and Live Photos
Ford opened its 2010 Paris auto show festivities with a crash--of a snare drum as it gave its new Focus ST performance hatchback a rock-star introduction near the Champs-Elysees a few hours before the show opened to the media. The Focus ST will be on top of the model range, and alongside it in...
Martin Padgett -
2010 Paris Auto Show Preview: 2012 Ford Focus ST Confirmed For U.S.
Ford is going global with the Focus, and by global, it means really global. That's right hot-hatch lovers, we're finally getting the Ford Focus ST right here on U.S. soil. The "early preview model" of the 2012 Focus ST hatchback will be on display September 30 at the Paris auto show. It will be...
Nelson Ireson -
2010 Paris Auto Show Preview: 2012 Ford Focus ST
Everybody knows about the rip-snorting 305 horsepower Ford Focus RS, but what about the lesser ST model? Weâre not talking about the lame duck North American version here, but rather the 225 horsepower five-cylinder turbo Focus ST sold overseas. The hot-hatch is essentially...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Video: Ken Block, Focus WRC Hit Tarmac For First Time
Testing in advance of Rally Deutschland, Ken Block and co-driver Alex Gelsomino are hitting the tarmac for the first time ever in their WRC Ford Focus. The video shows that Block and Gelsomino are quick studies, though whether it'll be enough to keep up with the WRC crowd is another question...
Nelson Ireson