Ford Focus compact ute coming 2021
More details on Ford's car-based compact pick-up emerge, including sub-$US20,000 priceDetails of Ford's global product portfolio continue to unfurl with the latest model confirmed by car dealers in the USA, a compact car-based ute.
AutomotiveNews.com published new intel received from a select group of US Ford dealers who were shown the new vehicle.
Rumours of a Ford Focus-based ute surfaced in 2018 and the new model will be launched (in the USA at least) sometime in 2021.
The new compact pick-up truck from Ford will be built in Mexico with annual production expected to top 100,000 units.
Tipped to be priced under $US20,000 ($A30,000) in the US market, making it roughly 20 per cent cheaper than the Ford Ranger, the new model will be based on the same platform as the Ford Focus small car. Alas, at this time, its tray size, engine options and other details – such as single or dual-cab body types – are not public.
Expect some crossover parts from the regular Focus, such as its front and all-wheel-drive layouts and potentially three-cylinder turbo engines.
According to those who attended the event in Tucson Arizona in February, Ford chief operating officer Jim Farley showed off the new model. The car-based ute was described by one US Ford dealer as partly-resembling the original Ford Ranger pick-up.
The new pick-up joins the Ford F-150 and Super Duty utes along with the Ranger as the brand's fourth ute model. Codenamed P758, it's not clear if the new model will be built in right-hand drive, making it eligible for Australia.
Car-based utes have precedence in Australia, with the Proton Jumbuck and Subaru Brumby and of course Ford Falcon and Holden Commodore-based utes having found favour with buyers in the past, but Ford Australia says that the Focus-based ute is not on the radar for launch in the local market.
"We’re excited by the arrival of the Focus ST in 2020, which adds a Ford Performance offering for Australian buyers, joining a range that includes the Focus Active and athletic ST-Line, but we have no plans for any additional body styles for the Focus line-up," says, Damion Smy, Product Communications Manager for Ford Australia.
Ford's new product assault on SUV and ute segments in the USA begins this year with the new Bronco.
Images of both the compact Bronco Sport and full-size Bronco 4x4 were leaked today.
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