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Unveiled: 2012 Ford Focus goes global
01/11/2010, 12:26 AM
By Mark Kleis



The next Ford Focus has been widely known to be in development for quite some time, and now Ford has finally taken the wraps off of its next global car. The next Ford Focus will be a 2012 model year vehicle that will underpin as many as 10 new c-segment cars by Ford around the world.



Leftlane reported on the confirmed engine technology just a few days ago that is scheduled to debut in the next Focus, but now we have the pictures and additional details on Ford’s first simultaneously-launched vehicle under the One Ford plan.



Overview of the global 2012 Ford Focus
The next Ford Focus will go on sale starting in early 2011 – a few months later than many had expected – but will begin production in North America and Europe in late 2010. The design language used on the next Focus looks to be a blend of the current European Ford Focus and the Ford Fiesta’s kinetic design language. Many common design cues can be found between the next Focus and the Fiesta including the general front flow and headlamp shape, the side profile and sheet metal styling, fog lamps and especially the window trim and shapes.



The aim
Ford says that the design of the next Focus was intended to appeal to customers from markets around the world without causing conflict due to differing tastes – a tall order given the fairly drastic difference in design language from market to market. Given the global design, Ford says it managed to achieve 80 percent parts commonality in design across markets – a full 20 percent higher than the global Fiesta.



“The new Ford Focus is a clear demonstration that our ONE Ford strategy is providing global consumers with great products that harness the best of Ford Motor Company,” said Alan Mulally, Ford’s president and CEO.



The development process
The next Ford Focus was developed by a truly global team – led by Ford’s European small and medium vehicle center out of Merkenich, Germany, with powertrain development led by a Ford team in Dunton, England as well as a team of powertrain technology specialists operating out of Dearborn, Michigan. Ford says that by leveraging the resources across its global operations it was able to deliver performance and feature content that will be unrivaled in the segment – and may even prove surprising to drivers used to larger and more premium vehicle.



Driving characteristics
Ford plans to raise the benchmark for the c-segment with its next Focus by delivering what it believes to be class-leading driving quality which is intended to blend steering precision and road feedback with refinement and control. The first Ford Focus, launched in 1998, received acclaim for its road handling characteristics – as did the new Ford Fiesta – and Ford hopes to continue the tradition of driver-friendly small cars with its next debut.



Ford has updated the multi-link control blade rear suspension and isolated the front and rear subframes in an effort to improve handling and ride quality. Ford says its European driving dynamics specialists paid special attention to enhancing the vehicle’s stability and agility with the introduction of an advanced Dynamic Cornering Control system – designed to use torque vectoring techniques to distribute power in a way that can reduce understeer, improve traction and provide better turn-in.



Ford has also added the Electric Power Assist Steering system, as found on the global Fiesta. The EPAS system helps to reduce the effort required during low-speed maneuvers such as parking, but tightens up to provide a more precise and natural feel at higher speeds.



More on the get-up-and-go coming from the updated 2.0
As previously outlined, Ford plans to launch the next Focus in the U.S. using a 2.0-liter 4-cylinder engine that features features a combination of Twin Independent Variable Camshaft Timing (Ti-VCT) and direct injection. Ford says these changes increase power over the previous 2.0-liter Duratec by as much as 20 horsepower while providing more than a 10 percent gain in fuel economy.

Total estimated power is expected to be 155 horsepower and 145 lb-ft of torque.

PowerShift makes its second appearance
Ford’s PowerShift dual-clutch six-speed dry transmission is set to debut in the U.S.-spec Ford Fiesta, but before it can sell its first unit equipped with this efficient new transmission Ford has now made plans to add this technology to the next Focus as well. This transmission can reduce fuel consumption by as much as 9 percent when compared to the existing North American Ford Focus’ four-speed automatic transmission, Ford says.

Ford also markets the transmission as being more sporty due to its dual-clutch design that allows for faster shifting compared to a traditional automatic transmission.

Safety
Like its Fiesta stablemate, the next Focus will make extensive use of high-strength, ultra high-strength and Boron steel for added rigidity and crash performance. Ford says that the torsional rigidity is increased by 25 percent over the existing model thanks to the stronger steel.



Ford says that 55 percent of the body shell, and over 26 percent of the Focus’ structure is formed with ultra-high strength and Boron steel – which it says is significantly more than any other Ford product (not counting the upcoming Fiesta). Ford points to this use of high-strength steel to reduce weight and provide more safety over traditional steel.

Inside the Focus

Inside the Focus Ford has updated the materials and design language to provide a much more upscale feel and layout. Materials, although not all soft-touch, are certainly more finger-friendly than the outgoing model. Design language also appears to follow the trend of upcoming Ford products for the North American market – especially true in the dash with the future fleet-wide integration of MyFord.



Innovation and technology

Ford hasn’t divulged all of the details on what we can expect to find inside the next Focus just yet, but we do know that Ford’s recently announced MyFord will find its way into the next Focus. The combination of Sync and MyFord will provide navigation as a factory option for the first time for Focus customers.

Ford did also announce the addition of a new Hill Assist functionality – it functions by holding the vehicle in place by braking for 2.5 seconds to prevent rollback when starting on graces that exceed 3 percent. Although not ground-breaking, it may prove to be a useful feature for those who call cities like San Francisco home.