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Ford C2 Platform Described as “Holy Grail” by Head of Engineering

Now that the 2019 Ford Focus is out of the bag, you might have heard that it rides on a new platform. C2 is how the Ford Motor Company refers to the architecture, and similarly to Volkswagen’s Modularer Querbaukasten, modularity is one of its properties.
2019 Ford Focus IV 129 photos
Photo: Ford
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The C2 is a replacement for the Global C platform, which replaced the C1 in 2011 with the C-Max. Prior to the second-generation C-Max, the Global C was partially used in applications such as the Mazda3, Mazda Premacy, and Volvo V40. History lesson over, now let us focus on what makes the C2 such a game changer for Ford.

According to Joe Bakaj, Ford of Europe's head of engineering, here’s how the cookie crumbles: “We've reduced the number of parts we've engineered; we've reduced the cost of engineering, but we've offered more derivatives to suit different personalities, and that's the holy grail." Someone’s a big Monty Python fan, alright!

Jokes aside, the C2 is crucial to the automaker’s aim to achieve $4 billion in engineering efficiencies in the next half a decade. As reported by Automotive News, the C2 also cuts development time for all-new models by up to “20 percent.”

It will be a long road until Ford matches the Volkswagen MQB, with the modular transverse toolkit now underpinning 40 percent of the vehicles the German automaker sells around the world. But still, Volkswagen has been at it for seven years now.

Also related to the C2, “Ford said it has reduced the number of orderable configurations on the U.S.-market Focus from 360 to 26.” The Focus Sedan that is, which will be sourced from the Chongqing assembly plant in China. The third-generation Focus Sedan for the U.S., on the other hand, is assembled in Michigan.

The plant in Wayne will stop Focus production in the second half of the year, retooling for the 2019 Ford Ranger mid-size pickup truck. The 2020 Ford Bronco will be made there as well, sporting the Ranger’s body-on-frame construction.
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About the author: Mircea Panait
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After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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