|
Ford Australia is meeting or exceeding sales targets on the Fiesta and Focus ranges and won't be expanding its local line-up with niche sports models yet.
Ford sales and marketing vice president Beth Donovan says the new Fiesta light-car is exceeding its sales targets and the model mix is well-populated with high end variants. "It's early days but we're pleased with the variety of buyers that we're getting, and we're certainly getting plenty of conquest, which is important in this market, it's about growth," she says.
The company's feedback shows it is getting a buyer that hadn't been looking at Ford for ‘a long time’. The sales of Fiesta mean anyone waiting for a on-again off-again RS Fiesta hottie will be waiting a little longer, although Ford hasn't ruled it out.
"We have Zetec, we're looking at something above that - we're selling a high-end model mix at the moment, a lot of the customers want it to look sporty but don't necessarily need the powertrain," Donovan says.
"You have to be smart about it … you can do niche models, but you have to be really intentional about what you're going to do with it when you bring it."
It larger Focus sibling has retained the XR5 model and Donovan says there are no shortages of dealers and customers lining up for the hot Focus. "We still have XR5, which is a great little package - we do well with that car, the dealers have people lining up for them," she says.
European Ford buyers are privy to the Focus RS, which is propelled by an upgraded version of the XR5's 2.5-litre in-line five-cylinder that produces 224kW and 440Nm. The front end has a MacPherson strut set-up with Ford's "RevoKnuckle" to counter torque-steer, as well as a torque-biasing limited slip differential.
The six-speed manual can sprint to 100km/h in just under six seconds, a top speed of 260km/h - in 4th gear it goes from 50km/h to 100km/h in 5.3 seconds. With figures like that they'd be lining up for an RS model here too.
|
