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Ford's stylish concept gets the green light
2004-11-05 - By Philip Byrne
Ford of Europe and Pininfarina are teaming up again, having signed a new contract to turn Ford's Paris show stopping Focus Vignale Concept from design concept into production reality in around two years.
 The one-off Ford Focus Vignale Concept hit the headlines as Ford’s star attraction in the new Ford Focus range, which premiered at the 2004 Paris Motor Show.
“The media and public reaction to the Ford Focus Vignale Concept in Paris was outstanding, and confirmed that we should put this vehicle into production at the earliest opportunity", said Lewis Booth, President of Ford of Europe. "Its elegance and flair emphasise the dynamic design of the new Focus range".
Full technical details and the name of the production version of this new Focus model will be announced closer to its launch in approximately two years time.
Ford and Pininfarina joint design and engineering team
Ford and Pininfarina SpA have already worked together with great success to produce the Ford Streetka roadster. Pininfarina's expertise in engineering and manufacturing relatively small volume production vehicles will be crucial to the success of this latest venture and in this case Pininfarina will also be a significant contributor to the final design of the vehicle.
"We are delighted to be working together with Ford on this prestigious programme", said Andrea Pininfarina, President and CEO of Pininfarina SpA. "Pininfarina is renowned for its in-depth knowledge and experience in the design and manufacture of specialised and stylish vehicles and we provide the perfect complement to the skills and resources available within Ford's European product development organisation", he continued.
Faithful to the concept car
Vital to the success of this project will be ensuring that the production car lives up to the spirit of Italian style and automotive emotion that is evident in the Paris concept car. The overall responsibility for achieving this and the other key objectives of quality and dependability for the programme lies with Ford's mainstream C-segment product development team.
"This exciting derivative of the new Focus range is a perfect example of the type of niche product Ford of Europe needs to develop as part of its mainstream production programmes", said Derrick Kuzak, Vice President of Product Development for Ford of Europe. "This role is becoming increasingly important as Ford of Europe's traditional high volume markets are fragmented into specialist niches and segments", he continued.
The production vehicle will be built at Pininfarina's manufacturing facilities in Turin with some parts sourced from Ford's Saarlouis plant and others from Pininfarina themselves. Like the Streetka, also built by Pininfarina, the new Ford Focus model will be a convertible but the Focus will be the first European Ford to feature a folding hard top.
Sporty coupe, stylish cabriolet
The key to the elegance and beauty of the Focus Vignale concept car was the core design language of the new Ford Focus family. This provides an opportunity unprecedented in the C-segment to create a vehicle with two identities, a sporty coupé and a stylish cabriolet.
First, a stunningly attractive coupé derivative that avoids awkward design concessions to the practical packaging difficulties inherent in a folding-top cabriolet. Then, at the touch of a button, it transforms effortlessly into an open-top four-seater. As the boot lid tilts open, the retractable hardtop will fold backwards to stow neatly in the boot and provide the car's occupants with sophisticated fuss-free open-top motoring.
Targeting leadership
The elegant new four-door Ford Focus model provides the base architecture for the production version of the Focus Vignale Concept.
Using the styling of the all-new Focus 4-door as a base contributes significantly to the dynamic and distinctive profile that was evident in the concept car. It also helps to ensure that this Focus will retain its family reputation for practicality by targeting class-leading boot space with the top up or down. Precise technical details will be confirmed closer to launch.
In many other respects this new Focus model will reflect the qualities inherent in the recently launched and much-acclaimed new Focus range. It will retain and build on the outstanding dynamics for which Focus is famous and add in a premium quality feel, extra refinement, an elegant and sporty interior and exterior design together with class-leading passenger and luggage space.
Further details on Ford's beautiful new coupé, that is also an open top four-seater, will be released closer to its expected launch towards the end of 2006.
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