Focusing on the Future
Just a few months away from the production car's debut, Ford has just unveiled the Ford Focus concept. Having seen
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| Ford has just unveiled the new Ford Focus concept, a glimpse of what the future production car should look like. (Photo: Ford Motor Company of Canada) |
undisguised photos and countless sketches of the "finished product," this concept seems to definitely be a foreshadowing of what the real second-generation Focus will look like. Until the debut of the production version this autumn, we'll have to make do with this mock concept and the current generation "new edge" model.
A point about the concept's unveiling: despite being one of the Western world's best selling cars, one might expect to find this car initially displayed at the Birmingham Motor Show or possibly Barcelona, but Ford has instead chosen to unveil its Focus Concept next week in Beijing at the leading auto show in the region, Auto China 2004, an example of just how important the burgeoning Chinese market is to the global automaker.
The Focus Concept isn't about demonstrating potential new motors and innovative technology, but rather it's about
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| Despite the revitalized look, the car can easily be recognized as a Focus. (Photo: Ford Motor Company of Canada) |
display of design. This is Ford's way of integrating potential deign elements of other vehicles into a brand new car. The new car borrows heavily from Ford's previous concepts, as well as its production vehicles. The proportions are quite similar to the Mazda 3 Sedan and S40, which makes sense being it shares general architecture with each, but rather than being curvy designers have used flat planes. A combination of a low nose, high window sills and a high, squared off trunk are merged with large window space make for the new theme. Despite the revitalized look, the car can easily be recognized as a Focus - OK, other than the Honda Civic Coupe taillight shape, that themselves copy Mercedes-Benz S and current SLK design language.
