Ford Focus (first generation)
The Ford Focus is a compact car that was manufactured by Ford in Europe from 1998 to 2004 and by Ford in North America from 1998 to 2007. Ford began sales of the Focus to Europe in July 1998 and in North America during 1999 for the 2000 model year. Manufacturing in Argentina continued until 2008, and it was still on sale in Brazil until 2009.
In Europe and South Africa, the Focus replaced the various Ford Escort models sold in those markets. In Asia and Australia, it replaced the Ford Laser.
Design and engineering
Codenamed C170 during its development, the original Focus took its eventual name from a Ghia concept car which was shown at the Geneva Motor Show in 1991. Certain elements of the design had been seen even earlier in prototypes used by Ford to demonstrate forthcoming safety features, such as the eye-level rear lighting clusters. As a continuation of Ford's New Edge styling philosophy, first seen in the Ford Ka in 1996, and Ford Cougar in 1998, the Focus's styling was often described as polarising. The styling had been overseen by Jack Telnack and executed by Claude Lobo and Australian designer, John Doughty, concluding in January 1996 upon program approval.The decision to name the new car the Ford Focus was made in early 1998, as Ford had been planning to keep the "Escort" nameplate for its new generation of small family cars. A last minute problem arose in July 1998 when a Cologne court, responding to a case brought by the publishers Burda, ordered Ford to avoid the name "Focus" for the German market cars since the name was already taken by the publisher's Focus magazine. This eleventh hour dispute was overcome, however, and the car was launched without a different "German market" name. The Focus once again represented an attempt by Ford to introduce a truly "world car" that could be sold in disparate markets with little modification. Previous attempts to achieve this had met with limited success - the concept for the original 1981 Escort had infamously mutated into two entirely different cars for Europe and North America with only superficial similarities between the two. Ford had tried again with the 1993 Mondeo and Contour/Mystique but the two variants still had too many differences to be called a true single car for both American and European consumption.
The Ford Focus was officially revealed at the Geneva Motor Show in March 1998.
Design
Focus models had been designed under the directorship of Richard Parry-Jones and were noted at introduction for their styling, class-leading rear suspension and tall interior packaging – as well as a stiff and light body structure, low-friction steering and suspension, and extensive safety and convenience features including driver and passenger airbags, available head-and-chest side air bags, rear ISOFIX child-safety seat attachments, safety belt system with pre-tensioners and load-limiting retractors, battery saver to automatically switch off lights after 10 minutes, interior light dimming feature, and flip-up/flat-folding rear seat cushions.Styling
The Focus' styling, often noted as polarizing, was marketed by Ford as New Edge design. The design language had been overseen by Jack Telnack and Claude Lobo and executed by Australian designer, John Doughty. In 2000, Karl Brauer, writing for Edmunds.com described the styling: "While ergonomically sound, the Focus' interior, like its exterior, displays much of Ford's New Edge philosophy that had editors split on loving or hating it." Sherri Koucky, writing for MachineDesign.com said the styling "mixes round shapes with funky geometric ones and adds sharp angles, somehow making them all work together." James R. Healey, writing for USA Today, called the styling a "collision of curves and lines." After the international Ford Focus, which shared styling with North American models, had won the prestigious European Car of the Year, William Diem of the New York Times wrote, "To some extent, the prize vindicates Ford's risky design for the Focus, especially the New Edge styling -- a combination of straight lines, curves and planes."Rear suspension
Engineers for the Focus, including Richard Parry-Jones, developed a class-leading, space-saving independent multi-link rear suspension, marketed as Control Blade suspension, combining the packaging of a trailing arm, with the geometry of a double wishbone suspension. The system was developed from that used in the CDW27 Ford Mondeo estate, but with various modifications to make it simpler and cheaper to build and therefore economically viable on a mass-market vehicle.Where many competitors in the compact class, or small family car class, used the less expensive semi-independent twist-beam rear suspension, Control Blade offered enhanced elasto-kinematic performance, i.e., strong body control, sharp and accurate steering regardless of the car's attitude, and an absorbent and quiet ride over bumps.
Unlike conventional multi-link suspension, Control Blade features a wide, simple, uniform thickness, pressed steel trailing arm with hub carrier – taking the place of two longitudinal locating rods, eliminating an expensive cast knuckle, and offering the same level of body control – with a lower center of gravity, reduced road noise, and at lower production cost. The long rear lateral arm controls toe, a pair of shorter front lateral arms, vertically above each other, control the camber, and the Control Blade reacts to brake and traction loads.
In testing the suspension in 2000, Motor Trend writer Jack Keebler noted "The Focus' average speed of 62.6 mph through our slalom makes it faster around the cones than a $62,000 Jaguar XJ8L and a $300,000 Bentley Continental. The impression is of having plenty of wheel travel for gobbling the larger stuff and big-car, full-frame isolation when encountering expansion joints and smaller road imperfections." Engineers also worked to improve the front suspension, removing sticking and friction from each component.
Following the 1998 introduction of the Control Blade suspension and its popularization by the Focus, other manufacturers began offering multi-link design rear suspensions in the compact class, or small family car class.
Tall packaging
Focus engineers developed a new interior packaging for the car's class, with a computer-modeled interior, long wheelbase, tall doors, raised roofline, increased passenger and cargo volume, raised rear seating and raised H-point front seating providing higher sight lines and increased rear footroom. James R. Healey, writing for USA Today, said "Focus is bigger inside than cars much larger outside." Ford later marketed the high H-point seating as Command Seating, noting that "the higher the H-Point, the higher you ride in the car, and in some cases, the more comfortable you feel behind the wheel".Markets
Europe (1998–2005)
Manufacturing
Historically, the Saarlouis, Valencia, and Halewood plants had produced the Escort, however the Focus was only produced at Saarlouis and Valencia since Halewood was to be switched over to production of the Jaguar X-Type. However the sixth and final generation of the Escort remained in production in Halewood until 2000 as a budget alternative to the Focus, and the van versions continued until 2002 until its replacement by the Focus-based Ford Transit Connect.The Focus production also took place in Santa Rosa, Philippines ; General Pacheco, Argentina; Chungli City, Taiwan and Vsevolozhsk, Russia.
2001 facelift (Mk1.5)
The Mk 1 Focus facelift in late 2001 included:- Revised headlamps with integrated indicators and separate main and dipped bulbs
- Revised bumpers without indicators, but with the addition of removable bump strips
- Revised upper and lower grille and fog lights
- Optional Xenon headlights
- Optional 6-disc CD changer
- Optional Navigation System
- Optional Digital Climate Control
- Features of certain trim levels changed
- Modified center console with rubber cup holders
- Different center dash colors
- New seat trims
- Different instrument cluster finishes
- Damped and lit glovebox
- New colors
- Rear power point
- TDCi Engine introduced to the range
- Versatility Pack Option added
- Bluetooth camera facility
North America (2000–2007)
Ford began marketing the Focus in October 1999 for the 2000 model year initially as a 3-door hatchback, 4-door sedan and 5-door wagon – with a 5-door hatchback debuting for the 2002 model year at the Canadian International AutoShow in Toronto.The Focus became one of the ten best-selling cars in America shortly after its introduction.
Model year changes
- 2000 MY – Introduction of the Sony Limited Edition, Street Edition, Kona Editions.
- 2001 MY – available electronic stability control, marketed as "AdvanceTrac," standard fog lamps on ZTS Series, new 6-spoke 16-inch aluminum wheels now standard on ZTS Sedan, front armrest now standard on SE Sedan and Wagon, comfort Group now includes only tilt/telescoping wheel, speed control, and front map lights on SE Sedan and Wagon, power windows standard on SE Sedan and SE Wagon, SE Sport Group upgraded to include leather-wrapped steering wheel, single CD now standard on SE Sedan and Wagon, new manual moon roof available on ZX3, front and rear floor mats and smoker's package now standard on all models, new premium group available on ZX3, manual transmission available on SE Wagon, power group includes power locks with all-door remote entry, power windows, and power mirrors – now available on ZX3, Zetec Engine now standard on SE Wagon. Introduction of the S2 Edition.
- 2002 MY – Introduction of the ZX5 5-door hatchback, power moon-roof available for the first time on all body styles, available 6-Disc In-dash CD Changer, improved cup holders to accept larger cups, added rear-seat map pocket on LX, SE, ZX3, and kangaroo pouches on ZTS, and the ZTW trim level for the wagon – including the 2.0L DOHC Zetec I-4 engine, leather seating surfaces, driver's side lumbar support, six-disc in-dash CD player, tilt/telescoping steering wheel, remote key-less entry, power windows and door locks, electronic speed control and air conditioning. In 2002, all Focus models received a safety package, marketed as the Personal Safety System – which included an electronic crash severity sensor, restraint control module, dual-stage driver and right front passenger airbags, dual-threshold driver and right front passenger airbags, driver's seat position sensor, front outboard safety belt energy management retractors, front outboard safety belt pretensioners, front outboard safety belt usage sensors. Introduction of the Mach Audio Edition. Introduction of the SVT models.
- 2003 MY – ZX5 now available in three trim levels, two new interior fabrics, heated front seat and heated mirror option, available traction control and ABS package, gray headlamp surrounds, silver instrument cluster and color-keyed trim on premium trims, CD/MP3 audio player standard on ZX3, ZX5, redesigned 16-inch alloy wheels, optional perimeter alarm, improved interior noise level, recalibrated throttle, refinement of engine. Introduction of the Centennial Edition in celebration of Ford's 100th anniversary.
- 2004 MY – The new 2.3 L I4 Duratec engine previously only available in select states became available nationwide, ZX3 now available with leather seating surfaces, new steering knuckles and struts for improved ride and handling, discontinuation of optional electronic stability control.
- 2005 MY – While the European Focus was replaced by a second generation, the North American Focus received styling and engineering changes developed under Focus Chief Engineer John Sidelko and Focus designer Larry Erickson. With the 2005 model year, Ford introduced the ST model of the ZX4 sedan, and the Focus nomenclature was revised to combine a body-style designation with a trim designation. Styling revisions included a new front bumper facia, a revised instrument panel, new tail lamps and a new rear bumper fascia on sedan models, a new harder steel alloy used for the hood, an 11% thicker plastic bumper fascia, a storage drawer for six compact discs located by the driver's left knee, optional overhead console with sunglasses holder and space for a garage door opener, molded-in beverage holders in the front door pockets, steel wheels and all-season tires, instead of on entry trim level models,, and new brake linings with total brake swept area increased by 17 percent.
- 2006 MY – On ZX4, ZX3 and ZX5, standard CD/MP3 player on all models, S and SE models receive revised plastic wheel covers with alloy wheels now available as a standalone option, six-disc audio systems now have steering-wheel controls, convenience Package and Safety Packages bundle popular options. Also in 2006 Ford introduced the Street Appearance Package priced at US$1295 with two unique front and rear fascia choices. The front fascia included integrated fog lamps and side markers, while the rear offers a rear diffuser, with the option of a large rally-style spoiler.
- 2007 MY – models no longer carried body configuration tail badges, modifications increased EPA mileage ratings, new leather-trimmed sport seats with contrasting leather inserts, new exterior colors: Kiwi Green and Aqua Blue Clearcoat Metallic, available Street Appearance Package I with rally-style rear deck lid spoiler, single-disc CD and MP3 capable player now standard on all series, available six-disc CD and MP3 capable player now includes duplicate audio controls on steering column, new Interior Upgrade Package. Wagon production ends at the end of the 2007 calendar year.