Ford Focus update

It arrives with a two-model line-up featuring a five-door hatchback and four-door sedan.

The new Focus is pitched at a wide audience from traditional budget-conscious buyers to whom price is everything to downsizers from larger more luxurious models who want luxury levels of convenience and comfort. This will be provided in the new Titanium model.

Focus has been a big success for Ford internationally with over 10 million units sold since its introduction in 1998. Consumers like the combination of value, comfort and safety and that generally, Focus is fun to drive. The new model came to fruition under a global development program called "One Ford" that is designed to cut costs for Ford as much as to improve quality and value to consumers.

Ford Australia is running hot on Focus saying it will "raise the bar and deliver a new level of standard and available content, enabled by its global scale."

There's no doubt the car has a sleek and sporty design but is also packed with more affordable technologies and features than ever previously offered by Ford Australia.

It was developed in Europe, for sale in over 120 markets worldwide with 80 per cent parts commonality. It uses Ford's new global small car platform that will underpin at least ten vehicles around the world and account for two million units of annual production by 2012.

Australian Focus models will be sourced from the lead European assembly plant in Saarlouis.

Smart innovations available on the all-new Focus for Australia include Active Park Assist, cruise control with Adjustable Speed Limiting Device (ASLD), keyless entry system with push button start and Adaptive Cruise Control.

Active Park Assist is a semi-automatic parallel parking system that uses sensors around the vehicle and the new Electric Power Assisted Steering (EPAS) system to guide the vehicle into place. It measures the length and depth of the chosen parking space and then steers itself into position, while the driver controls the accelerator, brake and gear selection.

The powertrain line-up includes a new 2.0-litre GDi (gasoline direct injection) petrol engine that combines high-pressure direct injection and twin independent variable camshaft timing for enhanced performance and fuel efficiency A completely updated 2.0-litre Duratorq TDCi common rail turbodiesel engine is also part of the line-up. Both engines offer significant increases in power and torque compared to the outgoing model.

Both engines can also be matched to either a manual transmission a five-speed manual with the GDi engine or six-speed manual with the TDCi engine or the latest six-speed PowerShift automatic transmission, depending on the variant.

A third petrol engine of 1.6-litres will be the fuel economy leader for the new Focus range, providing a reduction in fuel consumption of more than 15 per cent compared to the outgoing model.