Detroit 2008: Ford Verve Sedan drops (literally) in D-town
Click the image above for a gallery of the Ford Verve Sedan concept.
Ford's Verve Sedan concept rappelled to the ground in a smoky haze here in Detroit and the four-door concept proved to be a bit more squat, and less dynamic, in person. The Kinetic design language melds well with the compact sedan, looking more like a Mondeo at 2/3rds scale, which isn't a bad thing. But we're hoping for something a bit more sporting (like it's little brother that ran around the stage) and the Verve didn't quite deliver.
For all the details on the Verve Sedan you check out our previous post, and enjoy the two galleries of live and press shots below.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
J.Crew 12:47PM (1/13/2008)
The three door looks much sharper, but both are way better than their current efforts. You can see where Ford tried to incorporate some of these design cues into the current Focus where they look tacked on. They will be interesting to see in person next week.
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geo.stewart 3:17PM (1/13/2008)
the problem with the sedan is the rear overhang. if they stretched the wheelbase instead of tacking on a trunk, it would look much better. On the other side of the coin, im sure it costs more to have two platforms and not economically viable at this price point.
Carter 1:00PM (1/13/2008)
I agree. Much better, but do you notice how tall this car is?
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Punkcrisis 1:02PM (1/13/2008)
I am still trying to get a grasp on the actual size of this car it looks kinda big but isnt it smaller then the focus? or is the same size? and I actually kinda like the overall look of it, hopefully an EcoBoost motor finds a home in it.
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huis 1:23PM (1/13/2008)
If they don't end up selling a hatch here, I'll be upset, because eventually I'll need to replace my '01 ZX3, and the hatch version of this would work well.
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MemphisNET 1:37PM (1/13/2008)
All cars are getting bigger/taller because of safety considerations.
Very much digging this. Now get the Mondeo over here as a premium midsize. Sure it would compete against its Fusion brother, but Mondeo buyers may consider a smaller / less expensive Ford as a second car to compliment it in the drive way.
Hatchbacks are awesome, but you American's don't buy them (in any kind of volume to support having them). I say you American's because Canadian sales of hatchbacks are always very good. Focus sales have dropped off the map since they killed the Wagon and Hatch here.
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psarhjinian 2:21PM (1/13/2008)
Agreed. I can't believe Ford of Canada didn't kick and scream about the cancellation of the wagon and hatchback; their dealers certainly did. I've talked to a few dealers and the Focus' sales have absolutely cratered in Canada for 2008. Prior to that, it had been pretty competitive; now it's a bottom-feeder special, competing with the Cobalt for the "I can't afford anything else" buyer. It's a shame, too, because when the Focus came out it was the only domestic car to completely beat the Asians at their own game--sort of a Tundra-in-reverse, only the Focus was much further ahead of the Civic/Corolla than the Tundra (which is more or less at par with the F150/GMT900)
I hope they don't restrict sales to the Verve sedan alone. The Echo absolutely sucked when it was sedan only; sales of the Echo/Yaris _quadrupled_ when Toyota Canada brought the hatch over.
From what I can see, hatches are outselling sedans in this segment. The only sedans I see with any regularity are Yarises; I've seen the occasional Aveo and Versa, and I can't even remember seeing an Accent or Rio sedan, other than on dealer lots.
I mean, really, trunks in cars this size are pretty much pointless. They may rate the same in terms of volume, but they're so short (and the opening so small) as to be essentially useless.
clevershark 2:39PM (1/13/2008)
As stated previously, in Canada the hatchback isn't even available.
In recent years Ford Canada has gone to such lengths to alienate its clientele that I know of lifelong Ford owners -- and we're talking about people in small towns who know their local Ford dealers as personal friends and have for decades -- who've recently switched to Japanese cars.
Seriously Ford, WTF? There aren't enough people in Canada looking to buy trucks and SUVs that catering to them exclusively can be considered a viable business model.
LMdealer 3:01PM (1/13/2008)
psarhjinian.................the canadian dealers you were talking to better get off their asses because the rest of canada has outsold Focus year over year. This is based on information provided by automotive news comparing November 2007 sales (2,041)to November 2006 (1,933).
MemphisNET 3:25PM (1/13/2008)
lmdealer : i think he's referring to the current Focus, which is stale and not moving off the lots as fast ''as they should be''.
I live in a Domestic-friendly city, and the new Focus' sit on the lot while Calibers and Civics roam around all over the place. My local Ford dealers say the same thing - one stopped stocking more than 1 or 2 at a time because they don't move... and when people do come looking, the first thing they ask is ''Can I still get a 3door or Wagon?''
iDevin 1:43PM (1/13/2008)
This is a really beautiful car. If they can't afford to sell these as Fords then why not bring this and the Mondeo to market as Mercurys and make Mercury to Ford what Acura is to Honda - something they've been trying to do for awhile but just can't quite get it right it seems.
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psarhjinian 2:23PM (1/13/2008)
Ford has Mazda for that purpose. Duplicating the effort with Mercury is pointless.
Mazda has forward momentum and positive appeal amongst the press and public. Mercury has squat for brand equity except amongst old gearheads. Kill it and put the dollars into Mazda.,
C. McFeeny 8:13AM (1/14/2008)
This car is the first result of Ford's new-est attempt at global product development. Yes, it was developed in Europe but unlike the Mondeo or Fiesta it was developed for Europe, North America and many other markets. The next Mondeo will also be developed globally by both FoE and FNA -- likely to become the Mondeo in Europe and the Fusion/Milan/MKZ in the the US.
I dunno about you folks, but I think that Ford has finally gotten it right. This Verve is a knock-out, out of the park home run!
g_david 4:24PM (1/13/2008)
I have to admit (albeit begrudgingly) I do kinda like the new Focus after seeing it in person; however, it is nothing compared to the Verve. When the Verve goes on sale here, provided it maintains the seductive styling of the concept, it will absolutely cannibalize not only Focus sales but also the sales of numerous competitors, namely the Cobalt, Civic, Corolla, etc.
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Owain Ozymandias Buck 5:33PM (1/13/2008)
Short version comment: Just make it a hatch--small cars with trunks useless. Gimme a wagon.
Center exhaust: where the hell am I going to put my trailer hitch? But I guess I'm in a minority, just like with the wagon.
Yes a three hundred pound dry weight trailer leaves me with 700 lbs. cargo capacity to tow with my focus. That is a lot when you're talking about a small car. Guess I should just get a 3/4 ton to tow those bicycles, grill, and kitchen box camping.
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Owain Ozymandias Buck 5:37PM (1/13/2008)
Oops, just read another article on the Verve. I was mistaken about the market class for this thing--it's small! Super short. This must be the fiesta based thing.
I still think center exhaust is cheesy. ;)
geisemann99 2:31AM (1/14/2008)
Great design
The US design team of ford is run by Volvo....Stupid mistake ford did putting a volvo design person in charge of ford who is not even an American.
After all Volvo has been known to be super boxy and only sell because of safety.
Ford need to fire the Volvo deign guy and keep the euro design guy. You can tell this came from Ford of Europe.
I used to love fords when they were aero and no boxes.
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Nellydesign 9:21AM (1/14/2008)
You, sir, are an idiot.
calebe 9:25AM (1/14/2008)
The HatchBack looks much better than the sedan. I was wondering how they would do the bic razor grill on this for the USA. It's not as bad as i was afraid but still not what I would want. I like the black mesh grill better.
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tanooki2003 10:01AM (1/14/2008)
FINALLY Ford decides to bring Kinetic design to America. It's about freakin' time you @^#$%!!!
All of you NA 08 Focus haters (including myself) can stop whining about the current bland vanilla conservative lineup and not getting anything cool from Europe. It looks as if Ford has finally listen to us...maybe..I hope.
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