Ford designers revamp Focus, Five Hundred

The Five Hundred, built on Volvo architecture, sold moderately well in 2005, its first full year on the market, but sales nose-dived last year from almost 108,000 to about 84,000, something Ford hopes the redesign will reverse. Focus also saw its sales drop last year to just over 177,000, down more than 100,000 from a peak of around 286,000 in 2000.

Ford said it hasn’t set prices on either the Five Hundred, which hits showrooms in the summer, or the Focus, which comes in the fall.

Several analysts who have seen the new Fords say the changes are good steps but may not be enough to fend off sharper, newer designs from the competition.

‘It’s not a dramatic leap’
Erich Merkle, director of forecasting for the auto consulting company IRN Inc. in Grand Rapids, said the new Focus, for instance, still doesn’t look as modern as Honda’s Civic, which he considers to be the gold standard for small cars.

“It’s a step forward, but it’s not a dramatic leap,” he said. “Unfortunately the competition is really moving forward in that segment.”

He and Rebecca Lindland, an auto analyst at Global Insight, an economic research and consulting company, said Ford may not have had the cash to redo the Focus completely, a charge that Ford denies.

Merkle said Ford could have brought the superior European Focus to America instead of remaking the U.S. version.

“Ford does a lot of things that sometimes I just scratch my head over,” he said.

Lindland likes the new Focus but said the Five Hundred still is too conservative to set it apart from competitors.

“In order to attract people into a showroom, you need to have something that’s going to turn people’s heads,” she said. “It’s not cutting edge at all.”

The people working on the new cars, though, think otherwise.

“Our mind-set hasn’t changed regardless of what our financial position is,” said Beth Donovan, Ford’s small car marketing manager. “We want to win.”

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