Ford Focus coupe-cabriolet won't be sold Stateside

Alex Ricciuti :: 31 March 2006 :: Filed under Cabriolet, Coupe, Ford, Ford Focus, Europe & UK, US,

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Another symptom of the Euro-model absenteeism epidemic in US showrooms

Newswheel pontificates: Part I

Troll your average car-themed site or blog, Stateside, and amongst the usual web-based comment bile the odd clear-headed theme emerges. Try this one for size: why are certain killer European car models is not available in the US? Example required? How about the new Ford Focus Coupe-Cabriolet, intro’ed at the Geneva show earlier in March…

The Focus CC: Too rich for US palates?

When that model’s no-show status in the US filtered through to car buffs, it was all the excuse Europhile car enthusiasts in America required to tee up some top notch trash talking. Check out this typically unvarnished comment:

"Way to go Ford. First you crap out on the C1 Focus and give us an abortion of a Focus refresh that looks like it was hit in the face with a ball peen hammer, then you rub it in by giving Europe a hard top convertible version. I really appreciate it. My loyalty as a customer is fading with each passing product."

Well, quite. But if a sample of one makes for very poor statistics, may we refer you to the greater intellects at Automotive News, the industry’s trade-mag bible. The European Ford Focus is a conspicuous member of its top ten vehicles not sold in the US. And as most reviewers will tell you, it’s a damn fine car. Which begs the question, why won’t Ford simply bring the car to the US?

Look but don’t touch, Yankee. No al fresco Ford Focus fun for you

The answer, compadres, ain’t that simple. But the general gist goes something like this: It’s just too costly for an automaker to ship European models across the Atlantic for sale in the US. Sure, luxury car makers who command larger margins get away with it.  VW, of course, is the exception that proves the rule. But even there, Golf V has been out in Europe since 2003 and still hasn’t made it to the US (it arrives this summer, almost 3 years late). The Jetta, by far their biggest seller, is built in Mexico.

But here’s the rub. North American consumers simply aren’t willing to pay the kinds of premium prices that European consumers freely fork over for hatchbacks. Those compact econobox connotations die hard for Americans used to acres of Yankee metal.

To turn its Euro models into genuine money makers in the US, therefore, Ford would have to transfer production to North America. That means opening a whole can of component supplier, manufacturing and general logistical worms. Which in turn makes for a rather tricky business model for a small, cheap car in a tight-margin segment. Especially compared to the relatively easy pickings (historically, at least) to be made from larger vehicles and the perennial SUV cash cow. The hatchback segment may be huge in Euroland. But as Ford has clearly calculated, it just isn’t worth the sweat and tears to bring the new Focus to market in the US.

And that, folks, is why the rapturously received new Ford Focus range, complete with the fantastic cabrio and ST models, won’t be sailing across the pond any time soon. No matter how loud the moaning from Euro-fancying car enthusiasts in the US.

Next week:
Part the Second, in which Newswheel feels American buyers’ hot hatch pain. Diddums.