Click above for high-res gallery of the 2008 Ford Focus SES Coupe
We'll admit it. We didn't think sales of the 2008 Ford Focus would take off like they have, even after we had a 2008 Focus SES Coupe in the Autoblog Garage and for the most part liked it. The redesign for 2008 just left a bad taste in our mouths, and we didn't think anyone would fall for those garish fender vents. For whatever reason, be it the car's smooth ride, competitive pricing or exclusive availability of the SYNC system, the 2008 Focus is selling like crazy. Ford says that it sold 49,070 Focuses this year through March alone, which is up 23 percent compared to last year. More importantly, all of those additional Focus sales were to retail customers, not fleets. Last year the Blue Oval built 191,000 Focuses, but today it has announced that production will be ramped up at its Wayne Stamping and Assembly Plant so that 245,000 units can be built in 2008.
For comparison's sake, Toyota sold 371,390 Corollas in 2007, while Honda sold 331,095 Civics and Chevy sold 200,620 Cobalts. The Corolla and Civic are both handily outselling their domestic competition so far this year, but the Focus is now slightly ahead of the Cobalt, which sold 48,024 units through March.
[Source: Ford]
PRESS RELEASE
FORD INCREASES PRODUCTION OF FOCUS AT WAYNE ASSEMBLY TO KEEP UP WITH RISING SALES
WAYNE, Mich., April 15, 2008 – Ford Motor Company said today that North American production of the Ford Focus will increase by nearly 30 percent in 2008 to keep pace with strong demand for the newly redesigned small car.
The new Focus – which delivers 35 miles per gallon and industry-first technology such as Ford SYNC™ – has been a hot seller since it began rolling off the assembly line at Ford's Wayne Stamping and Assembly Plant in late 2007.
In the first three months of 2008, Ford sold 49,070 Focus units – an increase of 23 percent from the same time period last year. Importantly, retail sales were up 35 percent, while fleet sales declined slightly. The Focus now claims 7.6 percent of the U.S. small car market, 1.2 percentage points better than a year ago.
Based on the strong demand, Ford is increasing production in order to build a total of 245,000 Focus units in 2008, up from 191,000 in 2007. The production plan means Wayne Stamping and Assembly's 2,800 employees will work some overtime and Saturday shifts for the rest of the year to meet demand.
"Our employees are determined to deliver high-quality vehicles to our customers," said Wayne Stamping and Assembly Plant Manager Dale Wishnousky. "Our work force understands the Focus is the gateway to Ford Motor Company and knows it is a great car and it's great to see that our customers know it – and love it – too."
The 2008 model of the fun-to-drive Focus launched in October 2007 with industry-exclusive technology such as Ford SYNC™, the hands-free voice-activated in-car communications and entertainment technology that integrates Bluetooth-enabled mobile phones and digital music players. SYNC-equipped Focus accounted for 40 percent of the sales.
The new Focus also launched with improved quality – with 13 percent fewer Things Gone Wrong (TGW) over last year. This is according to the 2008 Q1 Global Quality Research System (GQRS) study conducted for Ford by RDA Group of Bloomfield Hills, Mich.
Ford invested $130 million in Wayne to build the new Focus. The company installed new tooling and equipment, body shop upgrades and a new onsite "rough road" test track for the Focus.
J.D. Power sales data show that 30 percent of 2008 Focus year buyers are 16 to 35 years old. That's up from 26 percent of 2007 Focus buyers.
Wayne Stamping and Assembly opened in 1952. It currently employs 2,655 hourly and 145 salaried employees.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)
Fernando @ Apr 15th 2008 2:05PM
I like the "fat girl" reference in the title. Yeah, she's ugly, but she's got a great personality. LOL
Xcountryflyer @ Apr 15th 2008 3:34PM
C&D put it 8 out of 8 new/newish compacts. They said it actually was midpack performance wise, but they said the styling and the interior/interior features were dreadful. Guess someone likes those ugly fake bling fender vents.
Randy @ Apr 15th 2008 7:35PM
ROFL! LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL. OMG That was funny!
I've got to admit.. I love the focus's rear, but think the front is way to "Contour". i never thought this would do well based on design. I was wrong! Nice job Ford... Wow, Ford's on Fire and it's not literally this time! ;)
Stealth E34 @ Apr 15th 2008 2:08PM
The rising price of gas combined with increasing demand for smaller, more fuel efficient cars has just as much to do with increased demand for the Focus as with Ford's overall improvement (except design) to the car.
While I am not a fan of the car in general (I agree with the garish fender vents and odd front nose), the Focus certainly stands apart from the new Civic and the (ugly) new Corolla.
Lets hope GM does a better job with the next Cobalt and we may see an American small car renaissance (of sorts).
Fernando @ Apr 15th 2008 2:13PM
The Corolla isn't ugly (in fact, it looks like a baby Camry), it's just bland and boring. The Focus, on the other hand, is probably the ugliest American car since the Pinto (I'd say the Gremlin, but the Pinto was made for 2 years after AMC stopped production of the ugly duckling).
I think most people would rather go with the mundane Corolla than the Cobalt and Focus mostly because of reliability and because the Corolla's looks don't insult you. So what if Toyota didn't try to be bold? That's not what the Corolla is trying to market to anyway. For what it is, Toyota did a great job with the new Corolla, IMHO.
Stealth E34 @ Apr 15th 2008 2:22PM
I dislike the fact that the Corolla looks (exactly) like a baby Camry. I fully understand the reason for doing so, I just think that Toyota plays such an 'appliance' game with their cars (ie. playing it ridiculously safe) that I do not appreciate their designs.
In contrast, the 2006 Civic stood out for its unique shape and boldly different, yet stylish design. Rather the 2009 Corolla (which was delayed a year to 'enhance' its design) came out looking like someone shrunk a Camry. What exactly might the Corolla have looked like before this 'enhancement'? It boggles the mind to consider how boring it may be.
And I stand by my 'ugly' Corolla comment. The body and lights oddly protrude, and the XRS model (especially) looks as if Toyota hot-glue-gunned a body kit all around it. This is not to diminish the Corolla's impeccable quality, safety and fuel efficiency. I drove a 2007 Corolla as a rental in October and was highly impressed by the car in general.
With that said, what is stopping Toyota from making damn good-looking, and yet entirely functional automobiles? It seems to me it is their hell-bent drive to merely conquer the global automotive market. Certainly not an unfair proposition, but one that directly denotes the companies 'automotive appliance' reputation.
SoCalObserver @ Apr 15th 2008 5:55PM
@ Stealth: Totally agree with all of your comments. The new Corolla IS ugly. Yes, it's a baby Camry, and no, that's not a good thing (Charger/Avenger, anyone?) The Camry can barely pull off its looks, and is able to in large part because of how big it is. Shruken down to micro-machine proportions, the Corolla looks out of proportion, and, somehow, both squished AND fat. Like so many new models being introduced from Toyota and Honda lately, the last generation looked better. Absolutely shocking that they delayed the Corolla's intro a year only to give us this mess.
Toyota's last vehicle that had any style at all was the last-gen Celica, which ironically borrowed lots of design cues from the "New Edge design" Fords of the time, especially the Cougar and Focus. Since then, it's been appliance after appliance after appliance, each generation getting fatter and softer-looking than the last.
It would be one thing if Toyota's cars were just boring (like the late '90s Corollas and Camrys), but they're now firmly into ugly territory. I honestly believe they don't invest in good styling because they know anything with the oval badge will sell. And I find that insulting to the buying public.
With the gap between automakers narrowing each year in terms of quality and reliability, Toyota will not be able to keep resting on its reputation with no regard to how their products look. Scion looked promising with their first-gen vehicles, but the new xB and xD dashed my hopes that Toyota will ever find an exciting, attractive design language.
PJ @ Apr 16th 2008 3:30PM
There's another major factor at work that hasn't been mentioned yet: advertising. Ford is pushing the new Focus pretty heavily, through TV spots and other media.
That's in stark contrast to the '06 and '07 model years; as far as Ford PR was concerned, the Focus didn't exist. A shame, since that was when it still drove like a sports sedan (the new one, with its e-throttle, squishier bushings, and softer suspension, doesn't).
Torrent @ Apr 15th 2008 2:10PM
Or do people want one just to throw food at it and gawk in awe like a two headed giraffe at the zoo? Although I don't see how that ties in. Oh yeah ugly car by the way.
Taylor @ Apr 15th 2008 2:13PM
Right, because All the Rental services are in extreme demand for cars no body wants.
phez @ Apr 15th 2008 4:56PM
I was going to say :)
Robert O @ Apr 15th 2008 2:15PM
Who was it that said, "No one ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public?" Well, who cares. I don't like the looks of the new Focus, though I'll admit that its a well engineered car for the money. I wouldn't buy a new one, but I'm glad Ford has a success!
James @ Apr 15th 2008 2:18PM
I don't think the focus by itself can take all the credit. Ford has really pushed the car on two fronts: the standard "buy this car" front and through the sync commercials.
The sync commercials never really push the focus exclusively, but when someone goes to Ford and says they want a car that has sync, the focus is the most "attractive" option at the almost rock bottom price that is its MSRP.
Coupled with the reactive nature of people to increasing gas prices and dealer incentives and you have a car with a decent personality that is also a cheap date.
Let's just hope that they don't also suffer from the morning after guilt of owning such an ugly car.
John P. @ Apr 15th 2008 2:20PM
The Focus is a great driving car. In the looks dept. I put it ahead of the Toyota and Chevy and behind the Honda. For me anyway.
The Interior/Exterior is nowhere near as nice as the 2000-2001 Focus, which is a shame for such a good driving car.
John R @ Apr 15th 2008 2:20PM
Ford's SYNC exclusivity runs out in November and its been cited that the system is one of the major reasons for puchase. What happens when SYNC or something like becomes available in a Mazda 3 or Civic?
phil @ Apr 15th 2008 2:33PM
Then ford still wins with the mazda3
Don @ Apr 15th 2008 2:37PM
Sales fall off?
I wouldn't wish a Focus on my worst enemy.
John R @ Apr 15th 2008 2:57PM
@phil
Last time I made myself aware, Ford only owns 30% of Mazda.
So Ford wins 30% of the time with Mazda and loses ??% with the Focus? I don't think that's such a hot strategy.
compy386 @ Apr 15th 2008 3:05PM
30% of a profit is better than 100% of a loss. IMO Ford would have but Sync in Mazdas by now if it fit. It's more a question of compatability rather than Ford holding out on Mazda.
Dan @ Apr 15th 2008 6:32PM
If you think about it, a 30% profit from the Mazda division is actually a %100 loss from the Ford end. So Ford would net a %70 loss to every sale it loses to its own Mazda arm.
Ford is stupid. Selling Jag, Rover, Aston, and probably soon Mazda. I remember doing something similar with alot of my belongings after I lost some money in stocks.
I probably should have kept the stuff and worked at finding an avenue to make more money. Change the thinking... not the circumstances.