Me likey! May like it even more once the drivetrain details come out.
http://www.nextautos.com/spied-next-generation-ford-focus-closer-production?gid=15661&nid=41102
Its been confirmed we are getting the European Focus the next time its freshened ;)
Wow that is a pretty sharp looking car. Ford's styling department has been doing good lately IMO.
Eh, I don't like it. I'm sure this won't be the "commuter" car body but it's better than the current one.
Looks like a civic.
Heh I live in Europe I think: why US get all the cool fords. I think it will always be like this that european man sells his mercedes to get mustang & the other way round
Wow i hated the original Focus St's but this 2nd gen ST looks slick. Certainly will be on the look out for these.
I just wish we could get the Diesel engine option here in the US.
Back in 2006 when I bought my 5 Speed Focus I was asking about that. They (the stealership) claimed to know nothing about a diesel Focus and when I inquired about having one shipped over.......
Was going to be an extra $25,000 just to get it shipped here to the states and "legalized" for road use. I've been a fan of the 'ol diesels myself now for a few years, it is unfortunate that the public's view of a diesel engine is still the old, dirty noisy engines of decades past.
I would trade in my gasser Focus for a diesel Focus, no questions about it, and my MPG would go up too.
Just a little "fun" fact, the 4BT in my user name is the cummins 4BT "little brother" of the 6BT's that Dodge uses in the Ram's and part of a repower project for a S10 Blazer I hope to finish some day.
4BT Panther
Why would you like to get the Diesel ?
Markku
Why not?
http://www.autoblog.com/2010/03/29/ford-focus-rs500-hacks-out-onto-the-internet-ahead-of-schedule/
That is probably the best looking Focus I have ever seen (hate the wheels). It needs AWD though. Especially with nearly 340lb/ft of torque on tap. And of course it is only in Europe... not that I could afford one.
Because they have cool accents.
Also, they're only building 500 of them, so even if they did sell them in North America, there would only be about 50 of them coming here, and that would make them about $75k (exaggerating, but probably not off by much).
You guys hear that Ford is talking about merging SVT and RS group? They want a tuner house that is globally recognized I guess...
I keep hearing talk of Ford wanting to make global cars (like BMW) but all I see with my big fat blinders on is the RS on that side of the pond.... and the Mustang on this side.
FPV? Forget RS and SVT. Those guys have it going on.
I try not to think about all the cars Ford produces overseas... it just makes me sad faced. Although I am usually a fan, I am not digging the styling of the current line-up of Aussie Performance Fords. I'd rather have a G8 GT with the GXP manual gearbox.
We are getting the new Focus the company that I work for is in progress of retooling the Michigan Truck plant (MTP) to build the new Focus We should start seeing them the beggining of next year or possibly around Aug or Sep of this year
You CAN get that ;)
Personally I'd rather have a Falcon XR6
(http://www.dragtimes.com/images/16007-2003-Ford-Falcon.jpg)
Really? Show me now!:hick:
If only they made a two door that didn't have a truck box.
I'd love to even see an FPV Typhoon in person, let alone own one. Whoever at Ford thought it would be funny to drive these things around Michigan for awhile, then NOT sell it here, needs to a cactus.
(http://mp3.news.com.au/hwt/images/falcon/FPV-Falcon-GT-big.jpg)
There's actually a simple reason we don't get this new RS: It's a last hurrah for a body type that is being replaced next year and has never been federalized. It'd make zero sense to federalize this body for one model year just to sell a few dozen hot hatches.
Not that I'm excusing Ford, mind you, because the body should've been federalized years ago. Hopefully the new "Global" focus will bring us some performance variants...
The government shares some blame as well. Not just the US government, but the governments of all major car markets. There should be one global safety standard, and any car sold in any country that adopts this standard should be able to move freely among any other countries that use the standard. Not being able to bring a European car into the USA because it's too safe (but doesn't meet some strange US standard like headlight beam pattern or bumper height) is absurd.
One nice thing about Canada: Standards only go back 15 years. Once a car hits 15 years old it can be imported. That's why you see puppiesanese mini-trucks and RHD Skylines & Supras driving around here...
They sold them all in 12 hours.
http://www.leftlanenews.com/ford-focus-rs500-sold-out-in-12-hours.html