Introducing the 2012 FOCUS

[Marc]

Just for fun: the differences between the localized Focus commercials

Spain


United Kingdom

(Note the 'mirrorable' license plates! Someone has been very busy photoshopping the Ford logos, sync screen and parking button though )

North American (the first 2 clips anyway)

[FiestaFan]

That's funny, in the third US clip (and the last UK one as well), it's a Euro-spec Focus, the car behind it is a Euro-spec Fiesta, and the car in front is...a Nissan Versa. And I think I saw a Chevy Caprice across the street :P

[Marc]

Yes, I recognized it as being a Nissan, but the model didn't look familiar to me. (there are no Versa's in Europe).

Ha, did you compare the pictures at 0:41? The UK car has driven 1.62 times what the Continental car has done. And the tacho and speedo are also slightly different aswell!

[GapBoyPCS]

I guess you folks may want to see this interview regarding the Focus global launch

[PowerShift]

Looks like the Focus was supposed to have a NA Fiesta-style front end at one point:


Inside Ford's Product Development Center #fordnaias by Michael Surtees, on Flickr

This is probably from 2007 or 08. I like the look of this prototype but I'm glad Ford took it further and gave it a more distinctive look. I wonder which came first, this Focus proposal or the NA Fiesta design?

[GapBoyPCS]

I think the Focus was first, and then the Fiesta was adapted.



Scroll to 34:02, and someone basically asks why the Fiesta looks the way it does.

[70sstrat]

Originally Posted by GapBoyPCS

Scroll to 34:02, and someone basically asks why the Fiesta looks the way it does.

Well thats a bit of a fib saying only the first 6'' were changed stylistically. I think the rear euro bumper is quite a bit slimmer.
The person asking the question is also quite interesting. I understand favoring the euro style, but "ruining the US car" is stating it rather harshly.
I like the look of our cars but do concede they could have made the grill a bit taller, even if it wasn't functional due to the bumper supports.

[Yashiro]

Originally Posted by tjl

But is it a "real" temperature gauge, or one that shows artificial readings that basically correspond to "cold", "normal warm", and "overheating"?

It's basically a temp gauge with 3 positions, Cold, Normal (middle position), Hot. I read in a Focus forum that when you watch it with a scangauge, it starts rising from cold when the actual engine temp hits 100 degrees, and hits the middle "normal" range by 130 degrees. It stays in the middle position all the way up until it hits 218 degrees. From there then, it starts to head toward the hot mark where it becomes dangerous and is at a high risk of overheating. On the other hand, on the Ford Fiesta, the red coolent temp light would illuminate by then if it got to those conditions.

EDIT- Oops, I just realized I replied to a post that was more than a year old.