[ZTWsquared]

FocusGuy7476,Dec 16 2008, 09:27 PM Wrote:there are a lot of different factors that go into the pricing of a product, in this case the Focus RS would not cost 45k here in Canada. dBlast is right, you cannot just apply a foreign exchange rate to product to get the price that it would be in your home country. Not the way the current markets work anyways.

If and when we get the global platform for the Focus in North America, your going to see a similar pricing structure across the entire model line that now exists.
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Obviously pricing is going to be different in Europe vs. here from a marketability point of view, but the essential costs of producing identical vehicles on either side of the pond aren't going to be significantly different - especially in an era where there is a movement to harmonize safety requirements.

There are a couple of things to consider, however when comparing UK prices to ours.

1. UK prices always include their 15% tax (VAT) as Europeans tend to talk about OTR (on the road) prices and we almost always look at MSRP.

2. The example I gave is representative of that ... a Subaru WRX STI in the UK is £26,039, or £22,643 before taxes ... that's 43,021 CAD ... compared to 40 to 45,000 in Canada before taxes for the same car - that's a fairly direct comparison.

So if Subaru can do it (sell for essentially the same pricing here as in UK) there's no reason why Ford can't ... so IMO saying that a Focus ST in the UK is £25,000 OTR, that equates to a Canadian MSRP of 41,300 before taxes ... that's squarely in the ballpark of the WRX STI, the EVO, Acura TSX Tech, ... and less than 10 grand more than a 200hp VW.

I'm not saying anyone's wrong or right here ... I'm saying that if a WRX or EVO can sell here for 40k+ - there might just be a market for a Euro spec Focus ST in the same price range.