Ford Oz has design focus on Asia

FORD Australia is playing a much bigger role in redefining future Asia Pacific models.

This is the clear message put forward at the local press launch of the Focus Concept, the second generation Focus sedan mildly disguised for introduction at this week’s Beijing motor show.

Ford Australia’s new boss Tom Gorman said the Beijing event was chosen to underscore the importance of the Chinese market, which is now the fastest growing as well as already the third largest globally.

He also predicts the Beijing event will take its place among the top five motor shows in the world, which comprise Detroit, Frankfurt, Tokyo, Paris and Geneva.

Mr Gorman is at the Focus Concept’s Beijing unveiling, as part of Ford’s Asia Pacific strategy meetings between regional presidents held three times a year.

Displaying the Melbourne-moulded Focus Concept also shows the world the capabilities of Ford Australia’s design and engineering team.

"It’s about gaining credibility over time," Mr Gorman said, adding that the more Ford Australia practiced with concepts like the Focus, the better it would get at it.

Ford’s local staff led by Paul Gibson – design manager of Ford Asia Pacific Design in Melbourne – designed and produced the show car’s headlights, grille, bumpers, tail-lights, wheels and paintwork.

Mr Gibson also worked in the vital preliminary stages of the Mk2 Focus’ gestation period in Cologne, Germany, from 2000 to 2002.

According to Ford, Mr Gibson and his team were asked "… to deliver a unique four-door for the Asian customer that represents an ‘authentic European car with an Asian flavour’".

Asia, like North America, leans more towards three-box sedans than the hatchback-orientated Australian and European markets.

As the Focus Concept highlights, the small Ford Australia team, currently comprising two designers plus support staff, will be responsible for any Asian regional modifications (including facelifts) to European designs.

It is also believed the Melbourne team will help develop engineering and manufacturing aspects of all future Ford Asia Pacific models. This includes prototype testing.

Future models on Ford Australia’s agenda include the still secret B-segment (light car) Fiesta four-door sedan, which is due to be unveiled inside the next 12 months.

Further down the track there is the CD345 2007 Mondeo mid-sized sedan and wagon, the hitherto Europe-only Galaxy people-mover replacement based on the next Mondeo, the next Transit van and possibly Fiesta-based light commercial vehicle derivatives due later in the decade.

Meanwhile, the production version of the Focus Concept sedan will see the light of day alongside its hatchback siblings at the Paris motor show in September. Australian small car buyers will follow from next May.

Ford Australia has a bigger hand in the specification of the next Focus, choosing powertrains, cabin treatments and models that are more appropriate for our conditions.

A similar strategy was implemented for the recently released WP Fiesta, which ended up taking two years to arrive locally after its 2002 European launch.

With Fiesta, Ford waited until a more suitable engine (1.6 litres) and transmission (four-speed automatic) package became available before committing the car to Australia.

Ford Australia says the exporting of local technological and design capabilities is just the start, with Mr Gorman extremely confident about his team’s abilities.

"We will be investigating engineering options through Ford Asia Pacific", Mr Gorman said, adding later "… the more activity Ford Australia does, the better it gets at it".

The Aussie team is also working on a more traditional three-box sedan version of the recently released Fiesta.

That car will replace the current C195 Ikon in China as well as other markets such as India and the Central and South Americas.

Today’s Ikon is a derivative of the 1989-2002 generation Ford Fiesta unseen in Australia.

Design and engineering aspects of the next generation Mondeo mid-sized sedan are also likely to come under the auspices of Ford Australia.

Only the beginning, says design chief

"THIS story is just the introduction of something that will continue." These are the words of Paul Gibson, Melbourne-based design manager of Ford Asia Pacific Design and a vital part of the team behind the look of next year’s Focus II range. He was speaking at the Focus Concept’s local press unveiling.

There is a wide range of future Fords for the Asia Pacific region, both above and below where the Focus sits in the market, which Mr Gibson and his team will be responsible for the look of.

Working under former Jaguar designer and now Ford AP design director Simon Butterworth, who played a key role in the AU Falcon’s successful visual transition to BA, Mr Gibson knows what is riding on the acceptance of the Focus Concept.

"We are very proud that we can lead in this (concept car) program," he said.

"It does show our commitment to the (Asian) region and that we are capable of doing what’s needed." Mr Gibson graduated from the Royal College of Art in London before heading south to lend a hand on several Falcon projects, including EBII and V8 race cars, in 1990.

Two years later he spent four years at Ford’s world HQ in Michigan on the Thunderbird and Ford Minivan exteriors, before moving to Ghia’s Italian design studio to work on a Lincoln show car, as well as the Ford GT Concept and the Europe-only Streetka Ka convertible.