Posts Tagged selling car
Ford Focus ST – For Petrolheads (With Families)
Certain cars seem to capture the public’s imagination when they are released. Notable examples in recent years include the Bugatti Veyron, Pagani Zonda and the Lamborghini Murcielago. However, even someone with the most cursory interest in cars would probably identify that these three particular examples are not within the budget of your average office worker in Dulwich. Still a car doesn’t need 600+ Bhp and 7 Litre 12 cylinder engines to provide driving appeal to the masses. Sometimes all a car needs is honest engineering, reliable engines, quality build and a very reasonable price tag. These factors alone are probably some explanation as to why the Ford Focus is the best-selling car in the United Kingdom.
I know what you’re thinking; “how can you start an article with words like ‘Veyron’ and ‘Zonda’ and all of a sudden end up at the Ford Focus?”. Well I appreciate your candour, but hear me out; the Ford Focus has a lot to get excited about. Principally, for the first time in my memory, there is a family car on the market that provides a genuinely pleasurable driving experience. Ford haven’t forgone quality in the name of practicality and for that I thank them. The New Ford Focus handles like a dream and feels like you’re driving a particularly nippy tank. This quality of weight distribution and safety is perfectly matched against the quality Ford motors. Whether you choose the sublimely sporty Ford Focus ST or the more conservative Focus Diesel 1.4, you are ensured a drive which will betray the price you paid for it. The Focus ST, generally available around the £19,000 mark, zooms off the starting line like a vehicle twice its price, but still retains the Ford practicality that the brand is internationally synonymous with.
This brings me to my second major point; considering that The Ford Focus has been manufactured solely as a family car, enormous care and attention has been invested into the vehicle making it a fun drive. Yes, you read that correctly, the Ford Focus is fun to drive. Test driving the Focus ST www.forddealsdirect.co.uk/ford/ford-focus-st.shtml around some country roads left me with a Cheshire Cat-like grin on my face; the genuine thrill of the tight corners giving way to huge rev straights in the Focus ST has rarely been rivalled at such a reasonable price point.
This is why the Ford Focus has been flying off the forecourts up and down the country ever since its inception in 1998. In very few cars can you find enough space for the whole family (plus the dog) and still experience a tight, responsive drive that truly delivers where so many other car manufacturers in this price bracket fail. The Focus’ main competition comes from the VW Golf, Vauxhall Astra and Citroen C4, all of which great value for money and impressive specs. However, none of them have the same self-assured feel of the Ford Focus or the quality feel of the interior. Comfort comes at a premium in most cars of this budget, it seems to come as standard in the Focus.
Ford Focus ST Modification Concept
Tags: a car, engine, interior, lamborghini, lamborghini murcielago, motors, pagani, pagani zonda, price, safety, selling car, Vehicle, veyron, zonda
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Individuality is Over-Rated – Buy a Used Ford Focus
At any one time, in any city of the United Kingdom you care to choose, at least one hundred thousand drivers will be slightly irritated by the intermittent beep of the Ford Focus’ ‘the door is open’ / ‘you haven’t done up your seat belt’ / ‘it’s a bit cold outside’ tone. They may also be bored to tears with the plain interior, the uninspiring plastics and the general feeling of ennui that envelops any Focus owner. So why on Earth do people keep buying them? Ford’s tradition for outselling the competition has slipped slightly on an international scale. The Ford dynasty now sits 4th in the table of highest selling car manufacturers behind Toyota, General Motors and Volkswagen despite holding second place for something close to a million years.
This has probably got more to do with globalisation, out-sourcing and recession as opposed to Ford making a colossal engineering boob. Nevertheless, it’s an interesting statistic considering that the Ford Focus is absolutely everywhere! If you stand on any high street during an average Saturday afternoon, you will be passed by a variation on the Focus theme roughly twice every second. I use the term ‘variation on the Focus theme’ as Ford have pulled the oldest car engineering trick out of the bag; by adding a couple of letters to the Focus badge, you can release a new edition and extend the car’s lifespan limitlessly. Nobody actually knows (or cares) what “Zetec”, “ST”, or “C-MAX” actually means, but they continue to buy the Focus in droves.
Their only minor concern is that is costs an extra £12 to get an ashtray and a cigarette lighter fitted. The reason why the Ford Focus outnumbers people by at least nine to one in this country is a relatively simple twofold paradigm; the Focus provides quality and value for money. In many ways it is the automotive equivalent of Tesco; popping up here and there in a stealthy manner, hoping no one will notice that it is slowly taking over the world. In these economically dire times, the public are demanding the best possible vehicle for the lowest possible price. The days of affluence, reckless spending and an insistence on remaining de rigeur at all times are long gone. Here to stay are the days of huddling round a solitary burning coal for warmth, eating cold beans to save on energy bills and wearing your grandmother’s hand-me-downs because you can no longer afford Levi’s.
So while we’re irretrievably sinking beneath the gloomy waters of a global recession, why not drive a car that is great quality for money, cheap to maintain and the best performer for its class? It may not be exciting…or fashionable, but it’s the Focus and it might just be the best you can afford. The 1.8 Petrol and 2.0 Diesel also better 50 mpg so it’s an ecologically sound vehicle as well. For me, however, the Focus really shines when you put it to the test. I was fortunate enough to scare my family during a road trip around the Cheshire countryside in a Focus 1.6 Zetec (a relatively standard model). I was extremely surprised by how the Focus hugged the corners as my mother screamed in the back. I laughed as the engine roared from 0-60 in less than ten seconds, whilst my father put his hand over his eyes and wept. I exhaled in wonder as the Focus slalomed round the wooded scenery whilst my dog howled in terror. The point is; as the driver I never once felt like I was not completely in control.
My family were in fear of their lives, but I was as calm and collected as I could imagine. For less than £10,000 you will easily be able to find a used Focus, with great spec and much better performance than its closest competitors (Citroen C4, Vauxhall Astra and the Volkswagen Golf). So in true form, Ford have manufactured a car that won’t ever be considered ‘cool’, ‘hip’ or any other trendy adjective you choose to bandy about, but what they have done is create a car for the masses. The Ford Focus is a success that speaks for itself.
Tags: a car, Automotive, car engine, engine, interior, motors, performance, price, selling car, VehicleRelated posts