Vince, they are intergrated into the seats, and can be pulled out… Many new small cars have them to enhance visibility through back window…
… but you knew that, of course….
… and doesnt make Fleetcus look any better, does it?
Wow. We went from Focus back to Escort. Horrible shape. The interior looks decent enough (except Im sure most of these cars wont have leather–so I take that back). The exciting dash is fairly non-exciting. And the front sorta mimics the Saturn Ion.
I wonder why they went this way? Why non mimic the shape of the fusion?
Just another car a fat girl will drive while going to WalMart.
I know what you mean about rear headrests being integrated. But I don’t think this is the case in this one…
How does ford expect to go up against the Civic with this crap? What the hell are they smoking in Dearborn?
I bought a Focus wagon which I love. I am glad that I don’t have headrests in the back as they are a major annoyance when trying to look out the back of the car. One thing – you all laugh at the car but my Focus has been VERY reliable. I love my car.
I just wanna smack the living sh*t out of the clowns over at Ford!!!
To the person who is glad that his/her Focus has no rear headrests, I just wanna say good luck to your rear passengers in the event that somebody rears you!
Love, A MAZDA3 owner -a car with rear adjustable headrests and actually can make FoMoCo proud
This car looks like a ‘sport’ version of late-90’s Ford Escort!! Why, Ford, why?
The current car was ugly, the new one was more ugly. Another step in the wrong direction for Ford…
Look at all that “silver” coated plastic waiting to be scratched! I hope that goes out of style soon.
Can anyone tell Ford that chrome bars makes ugly car even more ugly? Is that the same company that give us Aston Martin and XF-C?
While this car is unpleasant to look at, I think it’s a big improvement over the current. I happen to dig the ice blue instrument cluster on this. I hate the Civic’s 80’s digital/analog cluster.
Bottom line…
Design is not as clean as even the current version. Further, the first Gen had a more revolutionary interior by far.
About the headrests in back…either way…remember the Focus sedan has a high decklid. Even tall people’s heads sitting in back of my sedan didn’t stick up much above the seatback.
Remember too…Until this generation of Civic…they were boring and generic. The next Corolla doesn’t look much better.
But shame on Ford, they have far more talent than this.
So we have to look at one location on the dash for our input while we fiddle with knobs somewhere down below? That’s as stupid as BMW’s iDrive.
No thanks.
I find this “new” Focus to be quite an improvement over the previous design. The front looks a lot better, and mimics the Subaru Impreza in many ways. We all know the Focus is a dinosaur under the new clothes, but this is what it should have looked like when it first came out 6 to 7 years ago. Miss the hatch though.
I like the new Focus better than the original or current ones (inside & out). A couple styling tweaks and I’d love it. Add optional drivetrains and it’d be Gotta Have One! so there :-p
Looks like shit, seriously…. And I root for Ford to turn things around. But this, this is ugly…
One word:
chintzy.
I don’t understand the appeal of coupes that are the same size as sedans, so are no easier to park.
Yes, some coupes are especially good looking: Infiniti G35, Bentley, Mercedes, and a few others.
But most coupes are not any sharper than their sedan counterparts and are far less useful.
The Focus coupe is ridiculous IMO.
This is quite possibly the ugliest car of all time.
Tragic Design
I don’t know which hurts my eyes more, looking at the so-called new ‘re-designed’ ’08 Focus or looking at the interior of the ‘re-designed’ ’08 Focus.
There is nothing pleasant to look at and nothing to feel good about when I see this car. As for the headrest? Ford is well known to leave them out of their cars and why should they bother putting them in anyway since they probably don’t even know how to desgin them.
I’m very disappointed to say the least about this lame offering. Yes like everyone else I want to root for the underdog but when they continue putting out ‘dogs’ it’s hard not to be critical.
Ford could learn a lot from GM but NOooooooo…they just keep digging and digging that hole.
Jac
The good news, it looks even worse in person (naias). Why is that good news? This might, might mean the reconsider the euro focus sooner!!!
This is going to be the car that puts ford under. Why the hell can’t they just bring over the european focus? Why???
Also, i think Vince is right about ther ebe no headrests. The front seats have that same pattern that looks like fold out headrests but obviosly is not. Just a design to make you think there are headrests.
Just wonderng, how much does this redesign of the current platform cost vs. just bringing over the Euro Focus which is a far better car?
Also, could somebody forward my resume to the design department at Ford? I’m an accountant with exactly zero experience in auto design, but I really think I could do better.
I actually like the way the new Focus looks. It’s different and you’ll never mistake it for anything else on the road. That said, I do think that the coupe looks very awkward. It’s like the doors need to be a little longer or something (shoulda stuck with the hatch design anyway). The sedan definitely has better proportions. This might be one of those cars that looks better in person than in pictures too and I’ll form a final opinion when I see it up close. The interior is a HUGE improvement. There is a little too much bright silver in this model, though there is a model (SE, I think) that has the stone colored dash and it looks a WHOLE lot better.
Looks like a Ford Tempo. Hideous.
Worst. Design. Ever.
Worst. Design. Ever.
OMG It’s the 2008 Ford Tempo
This car depresses me. Unconvincing, garish, tacky, clumsy, archaic, crude, amateurish … I could go on about the hodge-podge design execution of this car. What’s particularly frustrating is that Ford could have saved themselves the embarrassment and just made available to us the Focus that’s already being produced in Europe. Ford’s conspicuous corner-cutting hasn’t successfully fooled anyone before, so I’m not sure what makes them think they can do it now.
Aston Martin/Range Rover side vents on a Focus??? Who in their right mind thought this was a good idea? Who signed-off on this assembly of cliché design cues to be used on an economy car? What a great way to steal and destroy the brand integrity of Range Rover and Aston Martin!
This car is depressing, not because it’s another terrible slapped-together disposable vehicle from Ford. But with over thirty years of increasingly uncompetitive products, this car proves that the pattern won’t end. If Ford can’t seem to get it straight what business they’re in by now, then maybe it’s time for them to just throw in the towel and stop littering the roads with this junk.
Just got my AUTOWEEK…GET THIS!
Ford admits it cost more to retool the current Focus, than to bring the C1 platform over!
SHOULD I BE SURPRISED?!!?
Vince – I sure do hope that Ford reads your blog. I think the comments here represent a microcosm of auto enthusiasts and non-enthusiasts alike (so I suppose that would be the entire world, eh?) The “Way Forward” just took a giant leap backward.
Fact:
Average Ford White Collar Worker in Dearborn, MI
Age 47 White Balding if Male, Overweight if Female Catholic Conservative 2 Children Shop, eat out, and escort children around for recreation Boring as Hell No Objectivity Delusional No Creativity
End Product = This Ford Focus
Well, I know at least some Ford people actually read this blog because they contacted me before. I guess the reaction to the car is pretty much similar on other sites. It seems to be heading for rental car lots, mostly. One bad move after another…
diiOk Brian, support that with some actual citations, sorry if I don’t take your word.
Brian 7:58,
Most of your “facts” aren’t facts at all… just baseless rants having nothing to do with the Ford Focus. There is nothing wrong with the first six in your list. Actually it describes a large percentage of the population of developed countries. As for the last four on your list, may I suggest that you leave your tract home suburban cul-de-sac to get a better perspective of things.
This white conservative Catholic with kids can afford a car that’s considerably better than a Focus. If Ford could sell cars to each person that fit this description, they wouldn’t be in such lousy financial shape.
when i saw the coupe.. the rear lights and front lights reminded me of the escort of around 94 i think. it wasn’t good looking then, it doesn’t look good now. I know they want retro styling, but 10 years ago wasn’t that long ago!
Well, I had a rental Tempo in Dec of 1995, and drove it 42 miles, home, in a blizzard! The snow on the road was somewhat packed, but you get drifts, 5-7 inhces in spots, and that little car got me through them( some about 100 feet long, you know, if you live in the snowbelt… one side of the lane is drifting, maybe 7-8 inhces of snow, the other half of your lane maybe 2-3 inches, and you hit say 50-60… and “plow” through the drift, or get stuck, if you proceed too slowly). My cousin still does not know how I made it home that day(when some “4×4″s were stuck). It was not that bad of a car. Of course, I only had it 8 days, since my Sentra was in the body shop due to a deer hit. I guess any vehicle can seem good, if you only have it for 8 days.
This? Yes, why no rear head rests? Why No Reclinging Mechanism? A rather inexpensive little car, like the 13-14K Accent SE ,has Reclining Rear Seats and 3 headrests in the back( although I do not know how you would get 3 adults to sit in the back,2, yes).
2 doors are useless as a sedan, due to a trunk limits what you can carry. Mazda has the 3 with sedan and 5 doors, at least they could make this a sporty looking 3 door, thus more useful. It is ok, and I would,perhaps, purchase this over a Cobalt, and Maybe over a Reno( at least until the next gen comes out, with more Suzuki in them- rather than GM-DAT- in it!).
Would I buy one now? No. Not with 2 doors only.
Ford(for the Ford people who might read this) go look @ Scion…. and try to figure out how they, in 3 years time, had nearly 200K sales(If Toyota wanted, they could probably get 250-300K sales per year, easily)!
I’d rather drive a base Lancer(sedan)!
Vince, yer site’s acting whacky! I took 3 mintues to type, and then it said’can’t find link” when I tried to post!?
I’d rather drive a Lancer, a 3 door Accent(SE), or almost anything else! The Accent has reclinging rear seats, and headrests, and is less costly, better warranty( maybe even better built? Seems Vince thought the Accent sedan was better than the Chevy Cobalt last year. I agree). This car is like something from 10 years ago… no headrests in rear seats, no reclining rear seats, No Long Warranty.
I might buy this over a Cobalt or the VW Rabbit, but that’s about it.
Hey, for the Ford people who might read this: Go look at Scion, and ask” How did they sell nearly 200K worth of cars in 06, when Scion had just went national in late 04?). Figure that out, apply what you learn, and maybe you will garner 200-300K , or more, sales per year, in the small car business.
Vince, they are intergrated into the seats, and can be pulled out… Many new small cars have them to enhance visibility through back window…
… but you knew that, of course….
… and doesnt make Fleetcus look any better, does it?
Wow. We went from Focus back to Escort. Horrible shape. The interior looks decent enough (except Im sure most of these cars wont have leather–so I take that back). The exciting dash is fairly non-exciting. And the front sorta mimics the Saturn Ion.
I wonder why they went this way? Why non mimic the shape of the fusion?
Just another car a fat girl will drive while going to WalMart.
I know what you mean about rear headrests being integrated. But I don’t think this is the case in this one…
How does ford expect to go up against the Civic with this crap? What the hell are they smoking in Dearborn?
I bought a Focus wagon which I love. I am glad that I don’t have headrests in the back as they are a major annoyance when trying to look out the back of the car. One thing – you all laugh at the car but my Focus has been VERY reliable. I love my car.
I just wanna smack the living sh*t out of the clowns over at Ford!!!
To the person who is glad that his/her Focus has no rear headrests, I just wanna say good luck to your rear passengers in the event that somebody rears you!
Love,
A MAZDA3 owner
-a car with rear adjustable headrests and actually can make FoMoCo proud
This car looks like a ‘sport’ version of late-90’s Ford Escort!! Why, Ford, why?
The current car was ugly, the new one was more ugly. Another step in the wrong direction for Ford…
Look at all that “silver” coated plastic waiting to be scratched! I hope that goes out of style soon.
Can anyone tell Ford that chrome bars makes ugly car even more ugly? Is that the same company that give us Aston Martin and XF-C?
While this car is unpleasant to look at, I think it’s a big improvement over the current. I happen to dig the ice blue instrument cluster on this. I hate the Civic’s 80’s digital/analog cluster.
Bottom line…
Design is not as clean as even the current version. Further, the first Gen had a more revolutionary interior by far.
About the headrests in back…either way…remember the Focus sedan has a high decklid. Even tall people’s heads sitting in back of my sedan didn’t stick up much above the seatback.
Remember too…Until this generation of Civic…they were boring and generic. The next Corolla doesn’t look much better.
But shame on Ford, they have far more talent than this.
So we have to look at one location on the dash for our input while we fiddle with knobs somewhere down below? That’s as stupid as BMW’s iDrive.
No thanks.
I find this “new” Focus to be quite an improvement over the previous design. The front looks a lot better, and mimics the Subaru Impreza in many ways. We all know the Focus is a dinosaur under the new clothes, but this is what it should have looked like when it first came out 6 to 7 years ago. Miss the hatch though.
I like the new Focus better than the original or current ones (inside & out). A couple styling tweaks and I’d love it. Add optional drivetrains and it’d be Gotta Have One! so there :-p
Looks like shit, seriously….
And I root for Ford to turn things around. But this, this is ugly…
One word:
chintzy.
I don’t understand the appeal of coupes that are the same size as sedans, so are no easier to park.
Yes, some coupes are especially good looking: Infiniti G35, Bentley, Mercedes, and a few others.
But most coupes are not any sharper than their sedan counterparts and are far less useful.
The Focus coupe is ridiculous IMO.
This is quite possibly the ugliest car of all time.
Tragic Design
I don’t know which hurts my eyes more, looking at the so-called new ‘re-designed’ ’08 Focus or looking at the interior of the ‘re-designed’ ’08 Focus.
There is nothing pleasant to look at and nothing to feel good about when I see this car. As for the headrest? Ford is well known to leave them out of their cars and why should they bother putting them in anyway since they probably don’t even know how to desgin them.
I’m very disappointed to say the least about this lame offering. Yes like everyone else I want to root for the underdog but when they continue putting out ‘dogs’ it’s hard not to be critical.
Ford could learn a lot from GM but NOooooooo…they just keep digging and digging that hole.
Jac
The good news, it looks even worse in person (naias). Why is that good news? This might, might mean the reconsider the euro focus sooner!!!
This is going to be the car that puts ford under. Why the hell can’t they just bring over the european focus? Why???
Also, i think Vince is right about ther ebe no headrests. The front seats have that same pattern that looks like fold out headrests but obviosly is not. Just a design to make you think there are headrests.
Just wonderng, how much does this redesign of the current platform cost vs. just bringing over the Euro Focus which is a far better car?
Also, could somebody forward my resume to the design department at Ford? I’m an accountant with exactly zero experience in auto design, but I really think I could do better.
I actually like the way the new Focus looks. It’s different and you’ll never mistake it for anything else on the road. That said, I do think that the coupe looks very awkward. It’s like the doors need to be a little longer or something (shoulda stuck with the hatch design anyway). The sedan definitely has better proportions. This might be one of those cars that looks better in person than in pictures too and I’ll form a final opinion when I see it up close. The interior is a HUGE improvement. There is a little too much bright silver in this model, though there is a model (SE, I think) that has the stone colored dash and it looks a WHOLE lot better.
Looks like a Ford Tempo. Hideous.
Worst. Design. Ever.
Worst. Design. Ever.
OMG It’s the 2008 Ford Tempo
This car depresses me. Unconvincing, garish, tacky, clumsy, archaic, crude, amateurish … I could go on about the hodge-podge design execution of this car. What’s particularly frustrating is that Ford could have saved themselves the embarrassment and just made available to us the Focus that’s already being produced in Europe. Ford’s conspicuous corner-cutting hasn’t successfully fooled anyone before, so I’m not sure what makes them think they can do it now.
Aston Martin/Range Rover side vents on a Focus??? Who in their right mind thought this was a good idea? Who signed-off on this assembly of cliché design cues to be used on an economy car? What a great way to steal and destroy the brand integrity of Range Rover and Aston Martin!
This car is depressing, not because it’s another terrible slapped-together disposable vehicle from Ford. But with over thirty years of increasingly uncompetitive products, this car proves that the pattern won’t end. If Ford can’t seem to get it straight what business they’re in by now, then maybe it’s time for them to just throw in the towel and stop littering the roads with this junk.
Just got my AUTOWEEK…GET THIS!
Ford admits it cost more to retool the current Focus, than to bring the C1 platform over!
SHOULD I BE SURPRISED?!!?
Vince – I sure do hope that Ford reads your blog. I think the comments here represent a microcosm of auto enthusiasts and non-enthusiasts alike (so I suppose that would be the entire world, eh?) The “Way Forward” just took a giant leap backward.
Fact:
Average Ford White Collar Worker in Dearborn, MI
Age 47
White
Balding if Male, Overweight if Female
Catholic
Conservative
2 Children
Shop, eat out, and escort children around for recreation
Boring as Hell
No Objectivity
Delusional
No Creativity
End Product = This Ford Focus
Well, I know at least some Ford people actually read this blog because they contacted me before.
I guess the reaction to the car is pretty much similar on other sites.
It seems to be heading for rental car lots, mostly.
One bad move after another…
diiOk Brian, support that with some actual citations, sorry if I don’t take your word.
Brian 7:58,
Most of your “facts” aren’t facts at all… just baseless rants having nothing to do with the Ford Focus. There is nothing wrong with the first six in your list. Actually it describes a large percentage of the population of developed countries. As for the last four on your list, may I suggest that you leave your tract home suburban cul-de-sac to get a better perspective of things.
This white conservative Catholic with kids can afford a car that’s considerably better than a Focus.
If Ford could sell cars to each person that fit this description, they wouldn’t be in such lousy financial shape.
when i saw the coupe.. the rear lights and front lights reminded me of the escort of around 94 i think. it wasn’t good looking then, it doesn’t look good now. I know they want retro styling, but 10 years ago wasn’t that long ago!
Well, I had a rental Tempo in Dec of 1995, and drove it 42 miles, home, in a blizzard! The snow on the road was somewhat packed, but you get drifts, 5-7 inhces in spots, and that little car got me through them( some about 100 feet long, you know, if you live in the snowbelt… one side of the lane is drifting, maybe 7-8 inhces of snow, the other half of your lane maybe 2-3 inches, and you hit say 50-60… and “plow” through the drift, or get stuck, if you proceed too slowly).
My cousin still does not know how I made it home that day(when some “4×4″s were stuck). It was not that bad of a car. Of course, I only had it 8 days, since my Sentra was in the body shop due to a deer hit.
I guess any vehicle can seem good, if you only have it for 8 days.
This? Yes, why no rear head rests? Why No Reclinging Mechanism?
A rather inexpensive little car, like the 13-14K Accent SE ,has Reclining Rear Seats and 3 headrests in the back( although I do not know how you would get 3 adults to sit in the back,2, yes).
2 doors are useless as a sedan, due to a trunk limits what you can carry.
Mazda has the 3 with sedan and 5 doors, at least they could make this a sporty looking 3 door, thus more useful.
It is ok, and I would,perhaps, purchase this over a Cobalt, and Maybe over a Reno( at least until the next gen comes out, with more Suzuki in them- rather than GM-DAT- in it!).
Would I buy one now? No.
Not with 2 doors only.
Ford(for the Ford people who might read this) go look @ Scion…. and try to figure out how they, in 3 years time, had nearly 200K sales(If Toyota wanted, they could probably get 250-300K sales per year, easily)!
I’d rather drive a base Lancer(sedan)!
Vince, yer site’s acting whacky! I took 3 mintues to type, and then it said’can’t find link” when I tried to post!?
I’d rather drive a Lancer, a 3 door Accent(SE), or almost anything else!
The Accent has reclinging rear seats, and headrests, and is less costly, better warranty( maybe even better built? Seems Vince thought the Accent sedan was better than the Chevy Cobalt last year. I agree).
This car is like something from 10 years ago… no headrests in rear seats, no reclining rear seats,
No Long Warranty.
I might buy this over a Cobalt or the VW Rabbit, but that’s about it.
Hey, for the Ford people who might read this: Go look at Scion, and ask” How did they sell nearly 200K worth of cars in 06, when Scion had just went national in late 04?).
Figure that out, apply what you learn, and maybe you will garner 200-300K , or more, sales per year, in the small car business.