Looked around some new Focuses...

[tjl]

While waiting for a small service to be done on my Fiesta at a Ford dealer, I walked around the lot and looked at a row of new Focuses (with a few Fiestas and an unsold 2011 Focus mixed in). One of them, an SE hatchback, was unlocked.

Most of the controls should be familiar to Fiesta drivers. The HVAC knobs are more like those of other cars (where you turn a raised pointer sticking out from the knob), which makes it easier to determine by feel what setting they are currently on. The back seat does have more room than in the Fiesta, but it is not as large as in some other cars (enough room for me, though). The rear seat head restraints do impede rear and rear side outward visibility.

Next to it was an SE hatchback with Sport Package, noticeable by the different wheels, rear disc brakes, SelectShift button on the (automatic) transmission shifter, and two tone seats. Next to that was an SE sedan with SFE package, noticeable by the badge and mostly flat wheel covers. An interesting thing about the SFE car was that the smog rating was only 6 on a scale of 1 to 10, in contrast to the 9 of the non-SFE cars. I did not see any obvious aero attachments on the SFE car; presumably, they are all on the bottom of the car.

The AALA labels on the Focuses indicate that only 40% of the parts come from the US and Canada; Mexico was the largest other country source at 15%.

There was also a Mazda 5 whose sliding door was open. The second row seat was about as roomy as that of the Focus. The third row seat was suitable mainly for children who no longer need to sit in child seats. However, the second and third row head restraints are cleverly designed so that they can be folded or pushed down to avoid blocking the driver's view when there is no passenger there, but are obtrusive enough that a passenger who sits there will raise or adjust them for whiplash protection.