Ford Focus ‘doubts about future after 2025’

Factory in Europe production Ford Focus likely to close in 2025, and it remains unclear whether the once-best-selling line will be replaced.

Overnight, Ford announced its plant in Valencia, Spain, had won an internal bidding war against the Saarlouis, Germany plant for the right to “assemble vehicles based on electric vehicle architectures.” next generation”.

So Saarlouis will continue to produce the Focus until 2025, after which it will likely be closed or sold off with the automaker saying it is “evaluating options for site concepts in the future.” future”.

Stuart Rowley, President of Ford of Europe, told Automotive News and other dealers, they are looking at “alternative opportunities for vehicle production in Saarlouis, including other manufacturers”.

The company says its European passenger car line will fully electric by 2030. By 2024, Ford’s European range will have four EV . passenger cars: a Puma EV, the Mustang Mach-E was released and the sports and mid-size crossovers produced by Cologne were based on the Volkswagen MEB architecture.

Ford has yet to announce what vehicles or types of vehicles it will build at the Valencia plant, which currently produces the Kuga/Escape, Transit Connect, Galaxy and S-Max.

It is entirely possible that the company could produce a C-segment EV in Valencia. The company may even decide to apply the Focus name to such a vehicle, based on the badge’s reputation and name recognition.

Alternatively, Ford of Europe could choose to focus – sorry – on crossovers and commercial vehicles. Blue Oval has made such a transition in the United States, where Mustang is the only vehicle available that is not a pickup, SUV, van or crossover.

Even if the Focus name is dropped in Europe, it will likely persist in places other than the current generation of vehicles also made in China and Taiwan.

Ford’s China subsidiary recently formed the development of new models to continue the legacy of models that have been discontinued in other markets. Over the past few years, Ford of China has developed new generations of MondeoTaurus, and Escort for sale there and in select export markets.

The Focus was launched in Europe in 1998, and effectively replaced the Escort, which in the 1990s had bland styling, only accountants boasted about cost-cutting and powerful dynamism. .

With radical New Edge styling and refined handling at the end Richard Parry-JonesFocus has resonated with both buyers and properties Wednesday.

Although the compact passenger car segment has shrunk in recent years as buyers flock to crossovers, it still makes up a significant portion of sales here and in Europe.

Until recent years, the Focus was regularly one of Ford’s best-selling vehicles in Europe, but the model’s star waned when the Puma and Kuga overtook it in 2021. The slump in sales has already taken a toll. force Ford to reduce centralized production and give away by factory workers.

Locally, the Focus replaced the Mazda 323-based Laser in 2002, but sales lag far behind the then-dominated Falcon and more recently the forest ranger.

Ford Australia has been slowly cutting back its Focus range locally since the launch of the current fourth-generation model.

Most recently, it lost the ST-Line and Active hatchbacks, leaving only the ST and ST-X hatchbacks. Currently on sale as the chip shortage delayed the launch of the upgraded model.

THAN: Everything Ford Focus