No attack ads for fresh Ford hot hatch

The new president of Ford Australia Graeme Whickman has bridled at suggestions the company is waging an attack advertising campaign against its rivals.

Instead, Whickman says, Ford’s program of promoting the benefits of its vehicles primarily against Toyota is “comparative advertising”.

“There has been some commentary in the last 60 to 90 days about Ford’s approach to what some people are calling attack advertising,” he said.

“I wouldn’t characterise it as that, I would call it more comparative advertising.

“It’s not about attack, it’s about making sure the facts are evident to people and they can make a choice.”

Whickman, 46, was speaking at today’s local launch of the upgraded Focus ST hot hatch, the first member of the small car family to be launched here in updated LZ specification.

The ST, which is expected to command around 650 to 700 sales per annum, will not be subject to a high-profile comparative advertising campaign as the Mondeo, Ranger and Kuga have been.

“The ST doesn’t need the marketing approach we have taken with some other vehicles,” he said. “People come into this sub-segment well informed already.”

The rest of the range, which includes an Ecoboost 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol-turbo engine for the first time, launches here late in the third quarter.

The ST gets here first because it is built in Germany, where production has already started. However, the rest of the Australian range is sourced from Thailand, where production is yet to commence.

As reported here, Ford’s Volkswagen Golf GTI rival brings a updated styling, additional features and revised suspension. The facelifted Focus ST goes on sale with a $700 price increase to $38,990, but still undercuts the Holden Astra VXR also released this week.

Its 2.0-litre turbo-petrol four-cylinder engine continues to pump out 184kW and 360Nm and, like the VXR, is matched only with a six-speed manual transmission.

A new drivetrain feature is automatic idle-stop, which drops the claimed fuel consumption average from 7.4 to 7.3L/100km.

The most obvious change is to the nose, where a big-mouth grille, narrower headlights and new bonnet debut. The mainstream LZ Focus models will have a similar – if less aggressive – look.

Inside, the ST adds the SYNC 2 8.0-inch touch-screen and a flat-bottom steering wheel.

Underneath the skin, the Blue Oval’s European hot-shop, Ford Team RS, has retuned the shock absorbers, fitted new front springs and stiffer suspensions bushes to the front lower control arms and rear spring link. The ST's electric-assist steering and stability control systems have also been recalibrated.

A $2000 Technology Pack adds Active City Stop, Blind Spot Detection, Rear Cross Traffic Alert, Lane Keeping Aid, Lane Departure Warning, Driver Impairment Monitor and Auto High Beam lamps. Prestige paint costs $450.