2019 Ford Focus Hatch Spied Nearly Uncovered!
2019 Ford Focus Hatch Spied Nearly Uncovered!
What It Is: As the hashtag on this Ford Focus prototype reads, it’s Time to Focus—on Ford’s upcoming 2019 Focus. We’ve spotted the hatch before, albeit slathered in bodywork-obscuring camouflage; ditto the four-door sedan variant. This marks our first good look at the car’s final sheetmetal and the outlines of its headlights, taillights, and grille.
Why It Matters: Since making its debut in 2012 to critical acclaim—including back-to-back 10Best Cars awards—the current-generation Focus has fallen behind. Key compact-segment competitors are newer, including the Chevrolet Cruze, the Honda Civic, and the Hyundai Elantra, while the Focus saw only a mild facelift two years ago. The next-generation model pictured here can’t launch soon enough.
Or maybe not—the Focus unwittingly became something of a political football in the spring of 2016, when Ford announced the new version would be built in Mexico. (Today’s U.S.-market Focus, except for the 350-hp RS model, is assembled in Wayne, Michigan.) This set off a Twitter tirade from Donald Trump during and after the presidential campaign, which was influential in convincing Ford to back off the idea. Instead, Ford announced in June 2017 that it will build the U.S.-market Focus mainly in China.
Platform: From these photos, it’s clear the Focus’s overall shape won’t change much. In size, too, it looks to be about the same as today’s car. As we’ve previously speculated, the new model’s body structure likely won’t be all new but rather a heavily tweaked version of the current architecture. Expect stiffness to go up and weight to go down. A much-needed injection of contemporary style is headed the Focus’s way, based what we can see here. The headlights and taillights are slimmer, sharper, and stuffed with LEDs. Ford has also stamped more surface excitement into the Focus’s fenders and door panels, resulting in a pair of Mazda 3–like swooping creases on the body sides. The results amount to a mild transformation, with the Ford taking on a new appearance resembling Hyundai’s Elantra GT hatchback.
Powertrain: Expect Ford to carry over the current Focus’s 160-hp 2.0-liter inline-four and turbocharged 123-hp 1.0-liter three-cylinder engines to the new model. Six-speed manual and dual-clutch automatic transmissions and front-wheel drive likely will be the only drivetrain choices.
Competition:Chevrolet Cruze, Honda Civic, Hyundai Elantra GT, Mazda 3, Volkswagen Golf.
Estimated Arrival and Price: Wherever it is built, the next Focus will arrive in U.S. dealerships next year as a 2019 model. We expect that this hatchback will be a bit more expensive than its sedan counterpart, but both will start at less than $18,000.
First published on caranddriver.com
