Did i hear right???.... DIESEL?!

[Teki04]

Ford focus on diesel range
Gordon Lomas
15jun05

Ford is edging closer to offering its first diesel passenger car.

An all-new Focus diesel is currently being evaluated by Ford Australia in Melbourne.
While no commitment has been made, Ford is seriously exploring the opportunity of bringing in a diesel Focus to complement the new range which goes on sale at the end of the month.

The South African-sourced Focus oil-burner has been in Australia for a couple of weeks.

There are several issues to deal with before a new variant such as the diesel Focus comes to market nothwithstanding price.

If a diesel Focus can arrive for no more than a few thousand dollars dearer than the 2-litre petrol model, it would present an attractive buying alternative.

"Price is the No. 1 issue at the moment," John Crew, executive vice-president of Ford Australia operations, said."But there are several other reasons you have to examine before signing off on model such as a Focus diesel.

"You've got to ask if there is enough potential sales volume in a very congested segment of the market. Also, can you justify the marketing spend that you need to implement in order to tell people about a new model variant.

"So it is very much a marketing challenge as well as a price challenge."

Global demand of diesel passenger cars is on the rise. It is only in recent years that Ford, which once lagged behind in diesel technology, has arrived with strong designs.

Among the pluses for customers are bigger fuel range benefits and greater low-down torque.

"These pass strict emissions standards and are no longer the dirty, smelly, noisy diesels some people think they are," Crew said. "They are extremely well designed vehicles."

There is a lot to consider within the Ford brand at the moment including details of a neck-wrenching RS Focus powered by a twin-turbo charged 3-litre inline six-cylinder believed to have been tested in Scandinavia.

"There are plenty of options in the Ford world as you saw at the Melbourne Motor Show in March with the Focus Vignale concept convertible," Crew said.

As far as Ford Australia went with the current model Focus in terms of performance-based variants was bringing in the mildly hotted up ST170, a competitor to Holden's Astra turbo and Toyota Corolla Sportivo.

Quote taken from:
http://carsguide.news.com.au/news/st...E21822,00.html

[Martyvan]

I would have one on Order as soon as it became official they were importing them. Particularly if it came attached to a wagon

Very interesting they are talking it up!

[b2tf]

I personally cant see the attraction to Diesel myself. Great to hear the range may be expanding, but give me fuel over diesel anyday.

[MITCHAY]

Diesel is more expensive than petrol at the moment. My knowledge was that diesel is less refined and therefore cheaper to produce so i would of thought it would be cheaper at the moment. Id say for it to be good though it needs a turbo.

[fordel]

I would go one as long as its a turbo model

TDCi is a sweet ride, fast and economical

Chris

[lincoln]

Great news. As long as Ford commit to diesel. They've got a habit of making half hearted attempts at niche models. The VW Golf locally has been a raging success, with demand far exceeding supply. The TDCI is a great powerplant that is shared with Peugeot and Citroen.

Diesel is more expensive but significantly more efficient. It emmits less C02, and is less energy intensive to refine. They engines are torquier than petrol and can be a lot of fun to drive. My folks have recently bought a Citroen C5 diesel and it's a hoot to drive. However, the fuel savings are only part of the equation, as the price premium often negates any cost benefits. It's the flexibility of the engine that has my attention. Ver impressive, IMO.

[Danny]

SPOTTED!!

I SAW THE DEISEL EVALUATION MODEL AT THE PINES SHOPPING CENTRE LAST NIGHT!!!!

Now this thread has answered my question.

Last night I turn up at the Pines Shopping center last night in the fez, and becasue the car park was empty, I looked over, and a new silver focus (looked like a Zetec) caught my eye.

I drove straight over to it but then stopped, realising that this focus had a little silver TDCi badge on the tailgate. The other thing convincing me that this was no ordinary focus was the fact that it had a German Numberplate, and a german Rego windscreen sticker that I could not understand.

"Hmm what is it" I thought. Maybe a FEV? dont know. Anyways I waited aorund taking photos of it to make a thread (no point now as my questions have been answered in this thread), and hopefully the owner would come out and I could question him. But he didnt come out in time and i left.

PS the pics on my phone failed to come out. Night time mode is Krap....

[Dark Horse]

Looking forward to the developments. Diesel over petrol all day any day.

[zetec]

They're South African plates. It's an LX by the look of it.

[Teki04]

Post the pics.... even if they are crap quality!

[Danny]

Originally Posted by zetec

They're South African plates. It's an LX by the look of it.

How do you know, U havent even seen the pics??

By the way, i just went into the phone gallery and fkn hell, Bloody corrupted file!!!! What a joke, I hate Nokia...

[zetec]

Originally Posted by Danny

How do you know, U havent even seen the pics??

coz I've seen the car numb nuts : If it is indeed South African, then the "German" was probably Afrikaans, the dutch-derivative that they speak in Seth Effriker.

[Teki04]

Originally Posted by zetec

coz I've seen the car numb nuts :

SO THERE IS A TDCi!!!!!!!! :

That would be the best thing for Ford OZ to do. We should be the first in the segment and it will have a loyal but growing following.

[zetec]

I like you saw it out in public, on Sydney Road, nearly had a heart attack and crashed my car, then put 2 and 2 together and figured it's probably being tested. I figured it couldn't be anyone who'd bought a petrol and rebadged it, coz they aren't publicly available yet!! Try reading your media statement from the Exec Vice President, if he say Ford is evaluating one now then my guess is that's it. First I heard of it was when I clicked on this thread to see what was going on!

[Timmeh]

A TDCi model is the only way Ford was going to tempt me into the new car.

I'm listening.

Tim