Ahead of its arrival here in November, Ford Ireland has told us the model line-up for the eagerly awaited newly updated Ford Focus range.
Priced from €20,295, the range is comprised four series from the entry-level Focus, Focus Style, Zetec and top of the range Titanium. The range is available in a three-model line-up of sporty five-door hatchback, sleek four-door saloon and stylish five-door estate.
“This new Focus is a real head turner and, as you would expect, it has the same fun driving appeal that we have come to associate with Focus,” says Ciaran McMahon, sales director of Ford Ireland. “It has been Ireland’s favourite car since it first arrived here in 1999 and I am sure this new model with its up-to-the-minute technology and highly efficient engines will again find favour with Ireland’s value-conscious motorists.”
Powertrains for new Focus will include Ford’s well-proven 1.6 litre (95PS and 115PS ) and 2.0 litre diesels (150PS ). Ford’s acclaimed 1.0 litre EcoBoost petrol (100 & 125PS ) – named International Engine of the Year for three years in a row – will also be available.
The entry level Fous features: ESP with hill-launch assist; MyKey Gen 2; body colour bumpers and spoiler (five door ); electric front windows; tyre pressure monitoring system; power door mirrors with indicators; remote power locking with flip key; anti-allergic interior; and capless refuelling.
The base model is followed by the higher specification Style, Zetec and Titanium versions.
When it was introduced in 1999, the original Ford Focus brought new levels of agility and driving pleasure to the C segment. Focus has also been a leader in terms of bringing technology to C segment drivers, the largest cohort of drivers on Ireland’s roads.
Among the firsts for Focus were technologies like life-saving electronic stability control, active city stop, which prevents slow speed collisions; and active park assist, the first real ‘handsfree’ parallel parking aid.
The new Focus continues to blaze a trail with cutting edge technologies within the C segment. And it is the first vehicle in Europe to offer SYNC 2, Ford’s advanced connectivity system.
SYNC 2 features a high-resolution, eight-inch colour touch screen and advanced voice control of audio, navigation, climate control and mobile phones.
SYNC 2’s navigation system also offers for the first time in Europe a split-screen display with detailed intersections, spoken street names, 3D highway junction and landmark views, and the Michelin guide. Drivers are able to issue simpler “one-shot” navigation destinations, and to ask the system to “play” a desired artist. Simply pushing the voice control button and saying “I’m hungry” will bring up a list of local restaurants, which you can then get directions to via the navigation system.
Another first for the new Focus is the advanced ‘perpendicular parking’ park assist, a new hands-free technology that helps drivers reverse into spaces alongside other cars. The extra sensors associated with this system also enable Ford to offer technologies that help drivers as they manoeuvre out of parking spaces.
Cross traffic alert warns drivers reversing out of a parking space of vehicles that may soon be crossing behind them. Operating with radar at a range of up to 40 metres (131ft ), the system will issue three distinct warning signals if it detects a vehicle approaching from either side
Park-out assist helps drivers as they exit a parallel parking space. After the driver has chosen either the left or right hand side the system operates the steering while the driver operates the accelerator and brake
