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UPDATE: Ford Plans To Import U.S.-spec Focus Mk4 From China

Introduced in 2011 and planned to be phased off in 2018, the Focus Mk3 has been pretty lucrative for the Ford Motor Company. Well, at least in Europe and China it was, for the U.S. is slowly but surely veering away from compact-sized sedans. Not long now, the fourth generation will be introduced, but it won’t be manufactured at the Michigan Assembly Plant.
2019 Ford Focus prototype 15 photos
Photo: Stefan Baldauf/SB-Medien
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Remember that former chief exec Mark Fields lost its job at Ford over, in part, President Trump’s push to keep car manufacturing in the United States? Well, globalization doesn’t work that way. Not only did the POTUS convince Ford not to move production of the Focus to Mexico, but Fields’ leave opened an opportunity for Ford in Asia’s superpower.

According to Automotive News, “the automaker will start making the next-generation Focus in China from the second half of 2019.” That, in turn, translates to the 2020 model year. On the other hand, production of the Focus Mk3 at Michigan Assembly will end sometime in 2018 to make way for the Ranger mid-size pickup and the Bronco body-on-frame SUV.

The move, according to the cited publication, saves the Ford Motor Company as much as $1 billion in production costs. To this extent, the Blue Oval thinks that its customers don’t care about the sourcing location as much as they do for quality and value. According to Joe Hinrichs, president of global operations,iPhones are produced in China, for example, and people don’t really talk about it.” Dear Joe, a high-end Apple smartphone and a Ford-branded compact car aren’t comparable at all. For what it’s worth, that’s a pretty unpolished notion.

For the European market, the place where the Focus Mk4 will see the light of day is the automaker’s Saarlouis Body and Assembly Plant in Germany. In total, Ford has committed 600 million euros in preparation for the all-new model. Based on spy photos of pre-production prototypes, the Mk4 will be worth waiting for thanks to the more modern cabin design and the increased wheelbase.

UPDATE

Ford just confirmed that "most new North American Focus models initially will come from China, with additional variants coming from Europe later."

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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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