Ford Focus increasing North American production to keep up with strong demand.
In the first three months of 2008, Ford Focus sales increased by 23 percent, for a total of 49,070 units sold, over the same period in the year before. Because retail sales also increased by 35 percent, Ford can now claim 7.6 percent of the U.S. small car market, 1.2 percentage points better than a year ago. In short, production is expected to rise to 245,000 Focus units in 2008, up from 191,000 in 2007.
Consumers may be reacting to a few key Focus features:
- New class-leading technology - Ford SYNC™, a hands-free voice-activated in-car communications and entertainment system that integrates Bluetooth-enabled mobile phones and digital music players, is attracting vehicle buyers. SYNC-equipped Focus accounted for 40 percent of the sales.
- Fuel efficiency - The Ford Focus delivers 35 miles to the gallon.
- Improved overall quality - According to the 2008 Q1 Global Quality Research System (GQRS) study, the new Focus boasts 13 percent fewer Things Gone Wrong (TGW) over last year.
