2007 European Car of the Year: Ford S-MAX
Ford Motor Company can use all of the good news it can garner these days. On the heels of the positive announcements regarding the Fusion and Milan quality, a panel of 58 automotive journalists from 22 European countries voted the Ford S-MAX the 2007 European Car of the Year.
The S-Max earned its crown by boxing out the Citroen C4 Picasso and Opel/Vauxhall Corsa, which were also very close in the running. The rest of the short list included the Fiat Grande Punto, Honda Civic, Skoda Roomster and Volvo C30. Not bad company to keep; even better company to beat!
Thanks for the tip Alberto B.!
[Source: Autoblog Spanish, Reuters]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Michael Karesh 9:41AM (11/13/2006)
This is exactly the sort of vehicle I've been wanting to replace my Mazda Protege5. Fun to drive, manual transmission, seating for 7 with three in the second row, and not styled to look too much like a minivan.
We need something like this in the U.S.
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dhario 9:51AM (11/13/2006)
kudos to ford...
perhaps if a car like this was released in the U.S. ford wouldn't be tanking? manufacture the car in europe and ship it over...
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purecoda 10:03AM (11/13/2006)
Listen Ford, this isn't that complicated. Swallow your pride, cut the red tape, and stop with this Bold Moves nonsense - just bring over your UK lineup already! The Mondeo, Focus ST and S-Max will sell like hotcakes - guaranteed.
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Johnny B 10:03AM (11/13/2006)
Yet another Ford we will never see in the U.S.A. Great job Ford, but your bombing in your own country...! I think it's time to step away from the trucks and SUV's...
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mce48047 10:32PM (11/13/2006)
Great looking vehicles in Europe. I completely agree with everyone else. Swallaw your pride and bring these vehicles over here to the US. Every time a new vehicle has a press release, my first question is .... "Will it be sold in the US?" And of course it's not. DUH!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Mr_Oak 10:48AM (11/13/2006)
Yet another stupid hatchback\wagon thingy. I'll take the one with a proper trunk or boot as the Brits say. Trunk\Boot also serves as rear shock tower housing and road noise isolation chamber. I really do hate hatchbacks. Drove one cross-country and it just about drove me mad. 2700 miles of subsonic boom punctuated by a gazillion TWACKS.
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Bill 11:16AM (11/13/2006)
Mr. Oak I'm curious what hatchback you drove cross country that drove you so nuts.
I will never own a car with a traditional trunk again. It's such wasted, unusable space. On the other hand, I don't like SUV's because I want a car that's low to the ground and can handle the curves when I'm feeling frisky.
Hatches rule. Always liked them, even when there were very uncool, and almost nonexistent in the US market. I need one car that does everything, and they do it.
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Michael Karesh 11:18AM (11/13/2006)
I'm guessing that Mr. Oak doesn't have three kids.
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Louis Duran 12:05PM (11/13/2006)
This is the kind of minivan that I am looking for on the market and just doesn't exist in North America from what I can see. My wife and I were given a Toyota Sienna minivan. We like the extra space and functionality especially with a newborn baby (they do take a lot of stuff with them). However, we don't necessarily like the size (it is a tight fit in our two car garage), the fuel economy stinks, my wife hates to parallel park it and I don't think it handles very well. So the only smaller van alternative with at least 6 passenger seating is the Mazda5 which is just a little too small for us and the rear seats on the 5 are just for kids. Plus the Mazda5 has a slightly castrated version of the Mazda3 2.3 liter engine. Just not enough power for a 3400lb. vehicle. The S-MAX would be just what we need. We don't need the current crop of bloated minivans from Nissan/Toyota/Honda/Chrysler. We need something that is an actual MINI-van.
One of the previous posters was right... Ford just bring over your UK lineup, let the consumer decide, and let the chips fall where they may.
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Mr_Oak 11:46AM (11/13/2006)
----> 7. I'm guessing that Mr. Oak doesn't have three kids.
Actually I have exactly three kids 16, 15 and 12 years old. I am now forced to go aro a larger car, mini-van or SUV. I chose the larger car LS.
The hatch was an '82 corrola. Also drove my brother's Escort wagon for 6 hrs taking him to college. Same result. My '85 supra was somewhat better but still annoying.
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Bill 12:26PM (11/13/2006)
As I thought. 25 years is a long time, and like most other cars, hatchbacks have changed a lot too.
A cross-country trip in an 80's Corolla or Escort wagon would have been a torturous journey, not matter if it had a trunk or a hatch.
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Guenther 8:09AM (11/14/2006)
Is the S-max actually bigger than the Mazda5, or is it basically the same platform. A Speed5 woild be very cool, and CHEAP.
Bill, don't bother Mr Oak with such arguments- He's bitter and very synical.
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mummy 9:37AM (11/19/2006)
I actually drove S-MAX and all I can say is that I am very thrilled with the car. If any of you are expecting the same confort like Focus has, forget it. S-MAX is one class above Focus. Much more space inside, I do prefer an option with 5 seats. But these are 5 seats for 5 adults. Not a rear bench where you can only fit three children... The seats fold very neatly providing all kind of combinations to increase your storage space. Even with 7 seats. The car shows good characteristics if you like to press on the accelerator paddle, but satisfies with average gas consumption (even for the Ford standards) if you prefer to finish your ride safely. Judging by the engines available in Europe the weakest one is 1.8 TDCi (Diesel). There are three models according to included features. Ambiente, Trend and Titanium respectively. I'm not sure about the prices in the rest of Europe, but here in Croatia the cheapest model (Ambiente 1.8 TDCi) is arround 28000 EUR.
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Eric 9:32PM (11/16/2006)
Will it work in the USA? No, Dodge, GM , Asian and Europe co. have the upper hand. Down size and stick with the things that work in the USA, Mustangs, Focus, Escapes and Move away from Large Trucks and Large to Mid size SUV's
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Beth 2:15PM (11/17/2006)
This is a Focus cross-over....... Wow... But then again I have been buying FORD for 25 years. They make a great car.
We all need to STOP listening to Toyota and Honda and Hyundai, and Kia.....
Start listening to the local automakers... They don't make a bad product at all. My husband and I are GM/FORD/ and even Chrysler LOYAL....
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FRAN 2:54PM (11/17/2006)
That five dollars per gallon for gas is great incentive. Europe has had great cars for years. Smaller cars with great, efficient engines. Two years ago I must have gotten fifty MPG in a clean, quiet deisel. Fun to drive stick shift, and very comfy, too.
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Kevin 3:25PM (11/17/2006)
Beth- Your loyalty to the Big 3 is laudable. However, after years of driving poorly made, sub quality vehicles from the Big 3, I gave up and went Japanese. Now, four Nissans and three Toyotas later, I will never go back. Chevrolet had my business, but they didn't care enough to keep it.
My current Toyota was built in KY- a great car built by great American workers!
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go bush! 3:44PM (11/17/2006)
I'm sick and tired of liberals and their small cars. I'm fat. Nothing wrong with it and I'm not going to start eating liberal health food and going to an all gay gym and waxing and oiling my body so i can fit into a small car. I'm an AMERICAN and we fought the war on terror so we can import all the oil we want. We aren't going to start driving tin cans just because liberals say pollution is coming. Its all BS.
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Mike 4:29PM (11/17/2006)
Great Job Ford! It's high time that American car manufacturers learned their lesson and are finaly able to compete in the world-car market place. This is the shot in the arm needed to get momentum for other domestic brand names to follow the Ford lead.
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PonyCar 4:03PM (11/17/2006)
I'm a Ford guy from WAAAY back. I drive an 06 Mustang Convertible, a real display of what the U.S. does best.
I think the European and Australian lineup would steal a lot of Japanese thunder, and they need to sell them here. But I also think that Ford should make more distinctly American cars. Am I the only one that thinks they missed the PERFECT opportunity to introduce a nice midsize, RWD, Charger killer, bringing back the Torino name duing the Olympics last year? Talk about missing a marketing campaign that money can't buy...
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