Has the Ford Focus been discontinued?
Is it the end of the road for the famous Ford hatchback, as buyers flock to family SUVs?...
For more than 40 years, Ford has offered a family hatchback in its range, through various generations of Escort and Focus. That model immediately won fans over for its sharp design and even sharper handling, and set the benchmark for family cars for many years.
However, that legacy is set to come to an end this November as the Ford Focus is discontinued for good – in both hatchback and estate guises. That means, following the end of Fiesta and Mondeo production, Ford will find itself without a family car in its range for the first time in its history.
With the exception of the Ford Mustang, every model in Ford’s range will be an SUV.
This phasing out has already started to reshape the motoring landscape, as the Ford Focus ST has already been discontinued. That means that for the first time since the 1960s, Ford won’t have a fast family car on its books.
The reasons for the Focus being discontinued are two-fold. Firstly, the European car market has shifted heavily from hatchbacks and estate cars to SUVs over the recent years as buyers seek the raised driving position and fashionably rugged looks they provide.
Secondly, the move towards hybrid, plug-in hybrid (PHEV) and fully-electric vehicles continues apace, but the Focus wasn’t engineered to accept any of these lower-emissions options – unlike models such as the hybrid Toyota Corolla, Volkswagen Golf eHybrid PHEV or electric Peugeot e-308.
Indeed, Ford has signed a far-reaching partnership with Volkswagen to allow it to deliver a range of electric cars quickly and avoid much of the steep development costs of going it alone. The first fruits of this labour are the Capri and Explorer SUVs, which are related to the Volkswagen ID 4.
In return, Volkswagen receives Ford’s expertise in commercial vehicles. The VW Amarok pickup is, in effect, a Ford Ranger, and the new VW Transporter is a reskinned Ford Transit Custom.
The end of the Focus has a wider impact, too, because it may signal the end of car production at Ford’s Saarlouis factory in Germany. The Focus has been built at the plant since 1998, with the Capri coupé, Escort, Fiesta, Kuga and C-Max all rolling off the production line over the years.
Read more: Used Ford Focus review
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