Auto For Speed

Ironically named little car, the 2012 Ford Focus. While you could surely argue we’re drawing too literal a line between the car and its moniker, we have to chuckle a little when we recall just how far afield Ford drifted with its compact offering over the last several years. Suffice it to say that Ford lost its way somewhere after the original Focus was introduced as a so-called ‘world car’ back in 1999. At the time, the spunky Focus shared the same C170 platform no matter where in the world it was sold.

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Automotive News is reporting that Ford will turn to its global team of designers for the look of the next Mustang. Styling themes will be served up from studios in Australia and Europe as well as other places around the world. Ford says that the practice is now standard operating procedure for most of the automaker’s new products, and that the global design approach was taken on board three years ago. J Mays, the company’s global design chief, and the rest of the vehicle’s design team will then select amongst the proposals for the design that best fits the next-generation Pony Car.

In the past, the company’s U.S. design studio was solely responsible for the vehicle’s image, but Ford has seen plenty of success from soliciting ideas from all over the world. The design of the global Ranger, for example, was submitted by artists in Australia with pointers from the company’s designers in Europe.

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For as long as any of us care to remember, car fans have been kvetching about the amazing, world-beating, do-no-wrong Ford products that Europe gets while we Americans sit here and stare like kids locked out of a toy store. No more.

Thanks to the much-lauded “One Ford” initiative, we’re finally getting a taste of what Ford of Europe has been cooking, and boy, can they cook. Enter the 2012 Ford Focus, a car so radically improved from what we’re used to that it’s surprising the name stayed the same.

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Ford has just unveiled its all-new Territory, a model that will only be available on the Australian market. Despite sharing some components, like the doors, mirrors, lift-gate and assorted trim with the outgoing model, a number of key differences can be seen between the two.

“We worked hard to ensure the new Territory was an evolution of the original model and, through the use of Ford’s distinct design DNA, also gave a hint of the future,” Svensson said. To achieve this we applied Ford’s unique style philosophy: kinetic design.Kinetic design comprises several specific elements, all of which are present in the new Territory. They are confident stance, dynamic lines, expressive form language, taut surfacing, bold graphics and great detailing,” stated Chris Svensson, Design Director for Ford Asia Pacific and Africa.

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After nearly a year of waiting, the first passenger electric vehicle wearing the Blue Oval as a logo broke cover this week in Las Vegas, where Ford is attending the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show. The Ford Focus electric, a Focus in nature but not in spirit, will become available in 2011 in North America and Europe, well after the first EVs would have paved the way for a bright new future.

The flagship of green cars manufactured by Ford features a Ford-engineered lithium-ion battery pack (developed with LG Chem, the supplier of the batteries for the Chevy Volt) which supports recharging from both 120V and 240V sockets. The batteries will give the model “enough range to cover the majority of daily driving habits of Americans” and, what more important in light of the future green wars, “a mile-per-gallon equivalent better than Chevrolet Volt,“ as Ford says.

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