Ford Philippines introduces the Focus 1.6 M/T

**orly_andico** · December 9th, 2005 12:45 PM

Originally Posted by mazdamazda

hindi nag share ang mazda & ford sa engine. mzr yung mazda and duratec yung ford. AFAIK - mas bago ang duratec and rehashed na lang yung mzr.

you will be surprised to know that the 2005+ 4-cylinder duratec engines are based on MZR engines. so it's the reverse -- the old duratec's are the rehashed ones.

http://www.answers.com/topic/mazda-z-engine

quote:

The Mazda Z engine family is an evolution of the B family. It started with 2.0 L and 2.3 L variants found in the Mazda3, Mazda Mazda6 and Ford Ranger. For 2004, Ford dropped its own Zeta Zetec engines in favor of Mazda's, naming the resulting engine the Duratec 20 and Duratec 23.

Confusingly, Mazda also sells Ford's Sigma Zetec (which is unrelated to both the Zeta and Mazda Z family) as the MZI. The MZ-CD Diesel is also unrelated to the rest of the Z family.

**acidboy** · December 9th, 2005 01:57 PM

may unconfirmed reports na lumalabas prices of focus hatch and 1.8 ghia are to go down. how true is this?

**carlocaraddict** · December 10th, 2005 12:28 AM

around 788k yung price ng Focus 1.6 according to Mr. Luie Dy-Buncio of Ford Philippines. This car will be available starting Friday next week. Automatic transmission is understudy according to him also.

**number001** · December 10th, 2005 01:04 AM

If its really Php 788K then it seems pricey. While Honda (Civic Vti m/t=Php747K) and esp.Toyota (Altis J m/t=Php708K) manages to deliver essentially the same package (1.6li compact cars w/manual trans) at a greatly more affordable price.

Funny, Ford used to undercut the Japanese's price with the Lynx. Now, I think Ford is moving upmarket with an upscale pricing scheme while not necessarily improving their reputation or the sophistication of their automobiles. They are pinning Mazda to care for the entry-level market.

The lackdaisical sales of the Focus can be partially attributed to pricing the car out of the market.

**Josh0027** · December 10th, 2005 03:34 AM

I hoped that it will be a lot lesser... priced like the lynx ghia w/c I think was about 750K that's manual with all amenities.

**bilog** · December 10th, 2005 06:33 AM

i think the Focus is a level higher than the phased out Lynx... so relatively the Focus is priced higher. i may be wrong.

**niky** · December 10th, 2005 02:55 PM

Originally Posted by number001

The lackdaisal sales of the Focus can be partially attributed to pricing the car out of the market.

Again, remember, that Ford did NOT release an entry-level model this year, and that they only started selling mid-year, so sales are not really "lackadaisal". Let's wait and see.

But yes, 788k is pretty high for a starting price, but given you're starting with a bigger chassis with more stiffness, sound insulation, suspension compliance and better build than the Lynx, the numbers DO add up. The base 1.6 GSi was... what?... 700k?, now factor in the regular price increase and everything else...

Consider also, that an Audi A4 1.6... basically a front wheel drive car with a pathetic 1.6 (compared to the Japanese) and very little kit retailed (do they still sell this variant here?) for over 1 million back when the Civic, Corolla and Lynx et al went for 700k and under... Ford is trying to put across the idea that the Focus is an upmarket European, and not just another econobox.

But likely, this is also to clear room for the Mazda3 in the entry level arena.

AFAIK, the next Civic is also pricing itself up and out of the market.

They should NOT put ATs in the base Lynx... or even the 1.8! The sedan should either come as a 1.8 MT or a 2.0 AT, while the hatch should get a 2.0 MT. You get better market saturation that way.

**number001** · December 10th, 2005 09:36 PM

Disclaimer: I like the new Focus alot so dont take this as a dress down of the model nor to the brand that it belongs to. I'm trying to state some facts here.

My unscientific approach to benchmarking and assessing a certain vehicle model's sales performance is through spotting the frequency of its appearance/presence on the road. Btw, anyone seen a sea of Focus(s) on the road lately? Nope. I do see them from time to time. One here and there, once in a while. Based on my random observations alone, I can say that the Focus is not selling very well. I actually see more Fortuners on the road (despite its reportedly limited availability) than the Focus.

A Lynx 1.6 GSI AT and 1.6 Ghia AT are Php 685K and Php 790K respectively as of November 12, 2005 and July 2005 for the Ghia. Both prices readily undercut even their nearest Japanese competitors' entry-level compact cars, by offering more features for a much lesser price. Also back in '99 when we were shopping for a compact car, the Lynx Ghia AT can be readily had for less than the cost of a Civic VTI MT. So by looking at the cost structure of Ford compact cars based on their previous offerings and prices, it becomes somewhat hard to accept this car manufacturer's newer and more aggressive pricing scheme for the new Focus, especially when it offers much less and for a significantly higher price. Also take note, the Focus(s) are manufactured or assembled here in the Philippines and they also export these units to other parts in Asia, so obviously the company does get alot of tax breaks and benefits from the Philippine Government which they evidently passed partially onto the consumers with the bang-for-the-buck Lynx but it looks like its not the same case with the new Focus.

**parakitoJDM** · December 11th, 2005 10:11 PM

Originally Posted by number001

Disclaimer: I like the new Focus alot so dont take this as a dress down of the model nor to the brand that it belongs to. I'm trying to state some facts here.

My unscientific approach to benchmarking and assessing a certain vehicle model's sales performance is through spotting the frequency of its appearance/presence on the road. Btw, anyone seen a sea of Focus(s) on the road lately? Nope. I do see them from time to time. One here and there, once in a while. Based on my random observations alone, I can say that the Focus is not selling very well. I actually see more Fortuners on the road (despite its reportedly limited availability) than the Focus.

A Lynx 1.6 GSI AT and 1.6 Ghia AT are Php 685K and Php 790K respectively as of November 12, 2005 and July 2005 for the Ghia.

the 2nd. Gen Ford Focus is a much better Engineered car than the current japanese econoboxes outthere (excluding MZ3 though). so i think the higher price is somewhat justified. i think the lower sales vol. of Ford is caused by 2things. People don't understand Focus has much better chassis design and refinement than d current Rolla's or Civic outthere. 2nd. most still haven't forgotten about what Ford did in the 80's (they abandoned Phil.) and thus after sales service/parts suffered tremendously for the Laser/Telstar backthen. 3rd. they lack variants. and now this seems to be a step in the right direction. offering 1.6M/T. hopefully they don't stop there and offer 1.8M/T, 2.0M/T and a CRDi version would really broaden its market appeal and gain bigger market share. now due to its limited variant its playing a niche market which is not good for over-all sales.

Do a test drive and examine the rest of the car before judging its lacking in content .... or read more about the 1st. FOrd Focus and the current 2nd. Gen that's selling quite well in Europe (especially UK).

**orly_andico** · December 12th, 2005 11:04 AM

i think if that 788k focus has dual airbags, climate control, and ABS, it would be an OK deal.
but if it doesn't... the altis E would be all over it with a beefier engine and all of the above (and let's not forget that toyota is the world's largest carmaker with legendary reliability.. compare with house-burning "Found On the Road Dead."