Ford Announces Focus Pricing

[RPO83]

Ford Australia today released pricing details of its all new Focus range, which goes on sale next month.

"Ford Australia is very excited about the prospects for the smooth new Ford Focus, which builds on the reputation for quality and class leading driving dynamics of its outstanding predecessor," Ford Australia Marketing and Sales Vice President Bruce McDonald said.

"New Focus builds on that reputation by adding even more in terms of quality, craftsmanship, packaging and refinement."

From launch, the new Ford Focus family will initially consist of the popular sedan and hatch variants. Four models will be available in the Focus line-up – the entry level CL, the feature-packed LX, the sporty Zetec and the luxurious Ghia.

Mr McDonald emphasised the outstanding value of the Focus range, starting with the feature packed CL sedan and hatch.

Focus CL comes complete with a new 107 kW 2.0-litre Duratec 16-valve engine, air-conditioning, driver and front passenger airbags, CD player and front power windows for a recommended retail price of just $20,990 for both sedan and hatch.

Options include a four-speed automatic transmission with Sequential Sports Shift and two value packs – the Safety Pack, which adds ABS brakes with Electronic Brakeforce Distribution (EBD) and front seat-mounted thorax protecting side airbags; and the Smooth Pack, which adds alloy wheels, colour-coded power mirrors, cruise control and a leather-wrapped steering wheel.

The Focus LX, also available in sedan and hatch, builds on the CL package and adds stylish 16-inch alloy wheels, ABS with EBD, front seat-mounted thorax protecting side airbags, front and rear power windows, power mirrors, cruise control, a leather-wrapped steering wheel and front fog lamps.

Recommended retail price for the Focus LX sedan and hatch is $24,990.

The sporty Focus Zetec is available only as a hatch and combines all the features of the LX with a lowered, aggressive bodykit, 17-inch alloy wheels and a sports suspension kit for a recommended retail price of $27,490.

Topping the range is the luxurious Focus Ghia, available only as a sedan, which adds to the package with four-speed automatic transmission with Sequential Sports Shift, dual zone climate control, six-disc in-dash CD player, leather seat trim and power adjustable driver's seat for a recommended retail price of $30,990.

Ford Focus recommended retail pricing:*

Focus CL hatch $20,990
Focus CL sedan $20,990
Focus LX hatch $24,990
Focus LX sedan $24,990
Focus Zetec hatch $27,490
Focus Ghia sedan $30,990

Automatic transmission with Sequential Sports Shift $ 2,000


Option Packages: Safety Pack (CL only) $ 1,190
Smooth Pack (CL only) $ 890


*Pricing excludes dealer delivery and statutory charges

[b2tf]

Sounds very nice indeed and those prices are fantastic. If I hadnt only just bought mine (had it for about a month now) Id be looking seriously at one of these. As it is I probably will be anyway, just not yet.

[Teki04]

FORD HAS A WINNER!!!!! Looks like the RRP of the Focus has undercut the current Mazda3 benchmark... Give me a Zetec over the Maxx Sport ANYDAY! Omg, i want one NOW

[zetec]

Then buy one!! Very sharp pricing there that's for sure! GO the Focus MkII!!!!!

[galaxy xr8]

I'd love to get ride of my AU II XR8 and my Laser liata and have just one vehicle, the new Focus Zetec hatch, I really like the look of them, in silver ofcourse, but I just wouldn't get much for the XR8, it scare's me.

[king_pin]

ST220?

Is there going to be one released in Australia?





*DROOL* already has 18x8" rims and twin exhaust...

[murcod]

Good to see the "safety pack" is realistically priced...... but then again, ABS should really be standard. The Nissan Pulsar has it included for $18990.....

One dealer here in Adelaide was advertising they still had 11 of the old model Focus brand new on Saturday.... Good luck selling them without huge discounts!

[Timmeh]

I am not sure ABS should be standard, I don't like it, and bought one without it. Maybe a no cost option. But that's still more than the current safety pack, IIRC. At least, how much the dealers wanted to charge before we bought our second Focus.

Anyways, all the best to the new range.

Tim

[Polyal]

yeap there is something seriously wrong with the market if these dont sell.

Ill take a CL sedan, dump it with some nice rims and I would be a happy man.

[lincoln]

ABS should be standard. Very disappointed at Ford for that. If you don't like ABS, unplug it yourself. I personally think you're mad, but that's just my opinion.

[Teki04]

Most base models dont have ABS... even the Mazda 3.... but magazines are still happy you can at least option it...

[murcod]

Nissan have it standard with the Pulsar for $18990.

Ford should take the lead and beat the others instead of playing catch up. Can't understand why anyone wouldn't want ABS (unless they think they're as good as an F1 driver?! )

There are still 11 old model Foci being advertised at one dealer here; and another is advertising 15 auto sedans?! No advertising whatsoever about the new model....

[Timmeh]

I have reasons for not wanting ABS. There are driving situations where ABS will prevent a vehicle from stopping as quickly as it could, and while I got an ABS fitted vehicle for the family hack where it's fairly idiot proof, it's not what I want on my personal car.

Anyone that goes on track days, or is involved in motorsport or knows alot about it, I guess, should know why. Certainly anyone at the Bathurst 24 Hour knew.

I agree, if you want to panic and slam the brakes, like I am sure most people in my family would, get ABS.

Tim

[b2tf]

ABS is one of the things I dictated whatever Focus I ended up with had to have. Im not a racing driver, Im the first to admit I have many, many more things to learn about driving ahead of me and put quite simply in today's day and age I find it almost unbelievable that ANY car still uses drum brakes. That's a really poor effort IMHO.

It was only through sheer luck I found a Focus with the Safety Pack Installed as by the time I started looking round they weren't taking orders for any new ones, therefore it was just a matter of looking and hoping we could find one with it. I love my disc brakes and I won't buy a car that doesnt have them. If I hadnt have found the one I bought I can safely say that I would not have bought a Focus.

ABS should by now be standard fare on any car regardless of model, spec level and price. The vast majority of people are not skilled or even interested in handling a car that doesnt have it.

[Danny]

Originally Posted by back2thefutura

ABS is one of the things I dictated whatever Focus I ended up with had to have. Im not a racing driver, Im the first to admit I have many, many more things to learn about driving ahead of me and put quite simply in today's day and age I find it almost unbelievable that ANY car still uses drum brakes. That's a really poor effort IMHO.

It was only through sheer luck I found a Focus with the Safety Pack Installed as by the time I started looking round they weren't taking orders for any new ones, therefore it was just a matter of looking and hoping we could find one with it. I love my disc brakes and I won't buy a car that doesnt have them. If I hadnt have found the one I bought I can safely say that I would not have bought a Focus.

ABS should by now be standard fare on any car regardless of model, spec level and price. The vast majority of people are not skilled or even interested in handling a car that doesnt have it.

True there Aust, cant go worng with ABS and your reason is the reason i bought mine with ABS. About the drums, I totally agree that its crazy that a car with build quality like the focus and fiesta has them. HOWEVER, I'm finding them quite adequate, the brakes as a whole dont feel in any way worse than my old EF falcon that had 4 discs and ABS. In fact they feel MUCH better, and safer.

I Gave it to it round a wet bend last night in curiosity of feeling how the ABS and EBD worked together. As I went round I pumped the brakes and held them there whilst cornering. It tracked true the whole way round this wet shiny bitumen bend, someting the falc would never have done. So about the brakes and safety systems on the Fez, I'm happy with em.

And as for the new focus. I'll be looking at a Zetec in 2007 when the Fez has done its job...... Either that or a VW Golf GTi

[Teki04]

Tim, its true what you say about a race track, but in this day and age, im sure 99.99% of the CL foci sold will never see a track. And, ABS can stop faster sometimes. At my driver training course, the ABS and non ABS cars were marked on the floor with where they stopped at what speed.... Lets just say even the instructor couldnt get a Non ABS to stop the quickest.

I agree with you there Danny, although the fiesta does have rear drums, they are pretty big and pulling up a 1000kg car, so they are good in that sense. My dad has a 2001 Honda Hrv, 1300kg, no abs, rear drums.... REALLY shocking.

At the moment, most higher performance cars (HSV, Alfa GTAs, FPV, Astra SRiT etc..) most have stablitily controls and ABS, and some have switchable Stability control, but ABS is not.

Reality has it that MOST people will have to use ABS on the road to quickly avoid a car that has suddenly stopped... and not use it on the track

[Teki04]

I think the main factor in non abs cars is tyres.... as you Tim have performance tyres, the grip levels are much higher then a normal CL, and hence you are able to hold the brakes harder without lock-up and hence stop quick. But in a stock CL on thin tyres, im sure that the car would lose grip earlier, and hence the driver would (if trained and knows what to do) back off the brakes a little, hence losing time in that sense, and stopping furthur.

So yea, in a non abs car, tyres are also a big factor

[zetec]

Where you notice the EBD is in very hard braking, especially down a hill. I have pulled down from around 100km/h to a roundabout on a twin lane road, down a slight hill and when you brake hard at the last minute, the tail end gets very light suddenly. You feel the tail squirm a little if you have even 0.1% of steering angle involved because the car isn't dead straight and you feel the EBD spread the load and settle car car back down by distributing the brakeforce to the wheels that need more/less. Very competent system, my friend behind me saw the back end wiggle under the hard brakes and thought I was in trouble but it was nothing more than the EBD controlling. Had I not had EBD, it would have not been as confidence inspiring! I was braking last minute coming over the crest, I had misjudged the distance to the round-about hence the need for the sudden last minute braking.

[b2tf]

Originally Posted by zetec

I had misjudged the distance to the round-about hence the need for the sudden last minute braking.

Not to pick on you Matt but that there is exactly why ABS is something that should be standard by now.

[zetec]

Let's just say I had somewhat "deliberately" left my braking late... not exactly normal driving conditions, I was having a go. Hardly the car's fault.

Anyway we're getting off topic a little!!!

[Teki04]

Yes, remember he mentioned his friend was behind him.... so what car did you beat in this 0-100??? :

[b2tf]

Yeah I understand that but what Im saying is that most people eont do that - a lot of people, especially inexperienced people, sometimes do get into situations where it is difficult to cnotrol the car and or brake under heavy speed. For that reason, ABS should be standard, perhaps with an option to turn it off on higher spec sports models like RS etc.

[zetec]

It wasn't 0-100 because my mate didn't stand a chance there, but we were gunning through a dual lane semi-highway with dual lane round-abouts every 500m or so. 4 roundabouts in total, I'm sure Whippet Zetec would know it well, the road in between the Baulko Business Park ;) We were competitively pitching our automobiles together in a spirited drive from one end of the park to the other. Lots of fun. I creamd him thru the straights and he kept catching me thru the roundabouts but overall I got him. Torque makes ALL the difference baby!!!!!

By the way Teki it was a Fiesta Zetec : with the bodykit and 16's... Can't argue with that!! Cracking good little devil of a car, just not quite so stable at higher speeds naturally, but damn I'd buy one in a second. I'd take one over a Rolla for crying out loud. Still no match for a lowered Zetec Focus but lowered the Fez and whack on some snotty tyres, zorst and K&N and you'd be hard pressed to get a Fez off your bum. Big Bro and little Bro are definitely from the same genetic father!! Just the Focus' mother was a big, curvy honey with a ghetto booty and great curves, the Fez's mother was a short little honey packing a punch with a low centre of gravity and big headlights... :

[Teki04]

Awesome.... pics? And yea, i understand what you mean. The focus is a great handler from what i have read, and my mother loved the Zetec-R enough to get one, but i was worried about resale since the new one was only 6 months away at the time. And also the Mazda 3 (similar to new focus) was out, and i was interested in Maxx Sport. But i have always loved Hot Hatches, so the fiesta zetec it was.... and yea... i wanna lower mine so i can get closer to the focus' ****... possibly overtake it

[zetec]

you'll never overtake a Focus unless you're MORE modded, at least not a 2.0. The Fiesta just doesn't have the top end for it, it's a damn fine little engine but there's still no substitute for cubic inches, even if we're talking 98ci vs 122ci lol. Pound for pound, mod for mod, the Focus 2.0 will have you, unless you're seriously cranking the mods. I'm talking straight line anyway.

Now y'all know why I had to get sticky Michelins and hard springs just so I can flatline the roundabouts and corners to match my power advantage just to shake the Fiestas!! Little pests!!!! But I can't wait to see a new Focus respond to some good springs, set of stickier shoes and a K&N/Zorst. I think one would have ton conentrate on midrange for the new engine, stuff the top end, it revs well enough there. The MkI needs top end help, the MkII BEGS for even more ridiculous mid-range. It's a honey.

[Teki04]

but its lighter.....

[zetec]

Power to Weight between the two, Focus has at least a kilo/kw advantage, we're talking 11.5kg/kw (based on 104kw est./1195kg 3 door zetec) to 12.5kg/kw (80kw est/1040kg 3 door Fiesta?)

Either way a modded 2 litre has better power per kg than the modded 1.6. No doubting it's a lighter car, which is where the directional changes come into play, but on anything above 60km/h straights, the Focus will have the advantage. It has a fatter midrange and top end when the car breathes better. Don't even talk about the new Focus, we're looking at 107kw stock on 1240kg, more like 115 est. modded with filter.zorst and on premium... that's more like a 10.8kg/kw... starting to see the advantage on the New model?!!!! Torque to burn too. It feel like a big Fiesta, more torque than a toolbox full of wrenches for a car with an engine of its size. The Duratecs are torquey little things.

[zetec]

Focus...

Fiesta...

[zetec]

New Focus...

[Teki04]

Hmmmm... not liking the new Focus any more.... Fiesta has big kahunas

I think my doubts would all be sorted with a nice fang in a Focus... so when you coming up to sydney now?