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Subscribe to this threadIt has a nice personality: Ford boosts Focus production by 30% to meet demand
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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).