Despite not being official, we've known for some time that Ford CEO Alan Mulally wants to increase the number of platforms shared by its U.S. and European divisions. It's something Ford fanboys have been demanding for some time, and yesterday Mulally officially confirmed that the next-gen Focus and Fusion would be global vehicles, sharing platforms with their counterparts across the pond. This will be in addition to the B-class car that's coming in the form of the new European Fiesta small car that will slot below the Focus in Ford's U.S. lineup.
The amount of overlap between Ford in the U.S. and Ford of Europe was one of the first things that surprised Mulally when he arrived at Ford exactly one year ago. He's quickly set about fixing the redundancy, but we won't likely see the fruits of his labor until 2010 or 2011 when the next Focus is expected to debut for both markets.
Ford execs have said that these cars will wear different styling and be tuned differently, but we've heard from inside the Blue Oval that a conflict between U.S. and Euro designers is growing, with the former group upset that its delicate balance of three-bar grilles will be upset by the Fiesta, and possibly other models, arriving with FoE's "Kinetic Design" theme.
[Source: Automotive News, sub. req'd]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Drewboy @ Aug 23rd 2007 2:35PM
Yay! Its about f'n time!
Don @ Aug 23rd 2007 4:27PM
Don't get in a tizzy yet. The Focus and Fusion won't be "world cars", but based off "global architecture".
Which means we'll see Fusions and Foci on Euro platforms...but that doesn't mean Ford won't dumb them down with the same shitty interiors and other assorted crappy materials.
geo.stewart @ Aug 23rd 2007 2:37PM
leave the US designers on the trucks and European designers on the cars.
there, problem solved. everyone still has a territory.
Alan, my consulting bill is on its way.
scooter @ Aug 23rd 2007 2:56PM
Exactly. They want to design cars that look like trucks so let 'em have a ball with updating the Escape and Exploder with sillier and sillier styling and leave the cars to the Euro division.
I think people now who buy a cheap car (like me) want a bit of style, sophistication, and spizzarkle. Not some faux-macho Caliber, etc.
geo.stewart @ Aug 23rd 2007 3:52PM
I prefer a small car with some pep to it. yeah, its environmentally friendlier than a Navigator but I can scoot through traffic in one, and its usually just for commuting, occasionally the family to go somewhere and I just cant justify spending a wad on something bigger.
I've got a 2005 Jetta GLI I'm about to trade in and there is nothing in the US to replace it with that I'm excited about. The Scions are about the best thing going in the sub-20K econobox market right now.
SPG @ Aug 23rd 2007 2:37PM
Can't wait to start getting true Euro Fords here.
For the record the original Escort was billed as a "World Car" when Ford started selling it here. Where as the body was mostly the same all the goodness was removed from the engine and suspension choices.
The Fusion is pretty cool but the Mondeo is cooler. The Mazda 5 is also pretty cool but the S-Max is cooler.
The next few years might finally change peoples opinions about domestic cars. Even if it takes all the domestic out of them.
P.S. no I'm not a domestic hater, I've only ever had domestics. Still really want a Saab but rockin the Alero out for now.
John P. @ Aug 23rd 2007 2:39PM
OK, Ford. It's not that I don't like the 3-bar grille thing, it's just that it's a bit bland. It needs a bit more sculpting to make it interesting. It looks best on the Edge, (I like that alot) but not so nice on the cars, which need a bit more work.
If the front of the Fusion looked as good as the back, which I think looks really nice, it would sell thousands more per year I am convinced. It just needs to be bolder.
That being said, the kinetic design theme from europe does look better. There I said it.
iamhoff @ Aug 23rd 2007 4:13PM
John I couldn't agree more. The 3 bar looks ok on the Edge (which I also like a lot), but not so much on the (proper) cars. Take the 3 bar theme, evolve it to fit the actual truck-like vehicles (Edge, yes, Taurus X, no, Flex, no), and use the kinetic theme on the cars. It looks too damn good to not use it.
mike @ Aug 23rd 2007 2:41PM
the current focus is based on a shared platform. a decade-old shared platform...
the 3-bar grille thing only works on big square cars + trucks. sorry guys. defer to your european counterparts when it comes to small cars - look what you did to the focus for '08. you should be ashamed.
Kaptain75329 @ Aug 23rd 2007 4:24PM
AMEN - Spot on there with the point about the Focus; I can almost swear that thing rots with age. The latest rendition of the US Focus makes it clear to me -- as it should to anyone else -- why Ford of Europe should be handling Ford's cars the world over. To pay lip service to the "globalization of platforms" doesn't quite cover what it is we're getting here. We Ford cheerleaders have been waving across the pond (with cash in hand) for products we can't have thanks to Ford's "one step forward, two steps back" philosophy. We want the whole package: design, materials, quality, drivetrain, chassis, suspension, and yes, styling too. I was worried that Alan, being a Lexus fan, would gloss over the roots of what's killing Ford's products, but I gotta give him credit this time: I think he gets it. These so-called designers in the U.S. are missing the point. Again. I'm not feeling sorry for 'em - they've had their chance and then some, and still they somehow managed to screw up even the Escape of all things. (HOW did that happen?)
These U.S. designers are acting just like the producers of Star Trek before the show was canceled and put out of it's agonizing misery. Rather than admit they're putting out crap, they simply blame the audience. Sorry guys, no deal. It didn't work on TV, and it doesn't work when you're asking for my hard-earned cash.
cowbell @ Aug 23rd 2007 2:42PM
Does Ford sell some car in Europe right now called the Fusion? I ask, because I was surprised to see one last year when I was in Italy. It was a station wagon parked in Perugia.
Gregg @ Aug 23rd 2007 4:39PM
Yes, they do. And you would be surprised to see all the models Ford sells that are not available here.
TriShield @ Aug 23rd 2007 2:45PM
This doesn't mean we are getting Ford Europe products here. It means Ford US will be making vehicles off the same structure, much like GM does with the Epsilon which Opel engineered and GM US used it to build US cars off of it like the old Malibu and G6. I doubt that's what everyone was hoping for.
Ford should simply retool US plants to build the same cars here for us much like the Contour and old Focus. Enough with the 3-bar nonsense.
Robert @ Aug 23rd 2007 8:54PM
So, we are sharing architectures, much of the sheet metal, much of the suspension work and a lot of interior bits. The major differences between there and here will be the tranny and engine combos (a 140hp Fusion would not sell here like a 140 hp Mondeo will in Europe) and some additions for our crash tests.
Right now the plan is that the design will be almost completely kinetic, except a form of the 3-bar grille. If you want to see what that looks like, find the sketches of the 2009 Ford Fusion that went around recently and see that 3-bar. Much different from the razor that current rides on front of the cars but still a 3-bar.
Again, this could change, but that's the current vision. So, yes, we will be getting "Euro" cars. There will be some minor differences, including styling cues, options and engines, but the plan is that they won't be drastically different.
Try not to be so negative until you really understand the details of what lies ahead. Barring some complete internal disaster, we will have some top-of-the-class Ford vehicles starting the beginning of next decade.
James @ Aug 23rd 2007 2:45PM
Memo to Ford's U.S. designers: don't be so inflexible on having the 3-bar grille. Design INflexibility is haunting Porsche, for example, where they have to figure out how to make a Cayenne look like a 911, much to its detriment.
Forcing yourself to use the 3-bar grille is like your marketing department being forced to use only F-names for your cars. Dumb.
APK @ Aug 23rd 2007 2:47PM
Why not sell both styles, maybe a euro option pacakge. IF there are going to be 1000's of my car on the road, the ability to have it be semi-unique seems like a plus in my book. Seems like an obvious solution, let the buying public decide.
Maestro1 @ Aug 23rd 2007 2:47PM
Let the U.S. Ford Designers whine! In my opinion their designs for the most part are complete crap. I mean there are some designs which were nice, but that was mostly trucks like the early 2000's Ford F150 and the Explorer and Edition. That three-bar grille though, is one of the most hideous things i've seen come from the Domestic Automakers since the Pontiac Aztek.
I agree with John that it looks fairly decent on the Edge, but seriously - when you look at the European cars in comparison to the US, the designers here in the US could really learn a lot from their European counterparts.
Let the evolution begin!
naggs @ Aug 23rd 2007 2:58PM
the design that looks better should get built...
sorry american design but you suck compared to the euro team...
kinetic>>>3 bar grill
cowbell @ Aug 23rd 2007 3:00PM
Does Ford sell some car in Europe right now called the Fusion? I ask, because I was surprised to see one last year when I was in Italy. It was a station wagon parked in Perugia.
Das Boese @ Aug 23rd 2007 3:59PM
Yes, our (the European) Fusion is a compact station wagon/MPV based on the Fiesta, intended to close the size gap between the Fiesta and the Focus. My mother actually owns one... great car, very roomy for its size but still agile.