Australian New Car Buyer – June 2019

AUSTRALIAN NEW CAR & SUV BUYER’S GUIDE | 51

T

he days of budget-priced
small hatchbacks may soon
be behind us.
Few brands can get a Toyota
Corolla-sized car close to the
$20,000 drive-away mark these
days, as each new model gains
more advanced safety tech.
The 2019 Ford Focus,
imported from Germany, joins
the growing list of cars that have
vacated the bargain basement.
There are initially four models
in the range: Trend, priced from
$25,990, ST-Line from $28,990, ST-
Line wagon from $30,990 and the
fl agship Titanium from $34,490.
As Toyota has done with the
new Corolla, Ford has added
some styling fl air to help the
pricing medicine go down.
There’s another reason Ford
has gone all out with the new
Focus: it’s an attempt to stem the
tide of buyers switching to SUVs.
To hedge its bets, in 2019 Ford
will add the high-riding Active
variant, based on the hatch. A
pretend SUV, it’ll be front-drive,

as is the rest of the Focus range.

The 2019 Focus is wider,

lower and roomier than before,

while still able to fi t in the same

size parking space.

The cabin has half as many

buttons as the previous model,

with a simpler and more practical

design. The automatic gear lever

has been replaced by a rotary

dial, similar to the one used by

Jaguar-Land Rover.

There’s a tablet-style

touchscreen in the middle of the

dash, similar to those found in

Audi, BMW and Mercedes cars.

Focus is powered by a 134kW

1.5-litre three-cylinder turbo

petrol motor, paired with an

eight-speed auto.

It’s no slingshot but

performance is on par with

other small cars.

However, there is a noticeable

vibration at idle and a thrum once

on the move. It’s a trait of three-

cylinder engines that Ford has

muted well, but you can still feel

it from the seat of your pants and

through your foot when pressing

the brake pedal.

This is just one of the

compromises for frugal engine

technology. The other is a

thirst for expensive 95-octane

premium unleaded fuel.

The eight-speed auto is

a smooth operator when

accelerating from rest.

It doesn’t drone like CVT

autos (such as the ones used

in the Toyota Corolla, Honda

Civic and Subaru Impreza) and

doesn’t hesitate from rest like

twin-clutch autos (such as those

used by Volkswagen, Skoda and

Renault).

However, some shifts can be a

little abrupt, such as when it skips

a couple of gears as you fl oor

the throttle to overtake or when

coming to a stop.

It’s a minor gripe which may be

addressed with a software update

at a later date.

Most impressive is the way

the new Focus hugs the road,

like a good German car should.

The broader footprint and well-

sorted suspension help it glide

over the pavement.

That said, the launch drive

was held on spectacularly

smooth surfaces that favoured

the car, so we’ll reserve

judgment on how well it might

handle decent bumps until a full

test on local roads.

Grip from the 17-inch

Continental tyres is superb,

although grip usually comes at the

expense of longevity, so putting

quality tyres on it could be costly.

Overall, though, it’s an

impressive effort and one likely to

put the Focus back near the top

of the small-car class -- if not in

sales then at least as one of the

benchmarks for driving enjoyment.

By Joshua Dowling

S FORD FOCUS FROM $25,990

Safety

EuroNCAP

Performance

Handling

Quality and reliability

Comfort and refi nement

Value for money

Overall

STARS

THINGS WE LIKE

 Looks sharp

 A genuine German hatch, like

the Golf

 Tractable, economical performance

 Great handling

 Well equipped with infotainment

and safety features

THINGS YOU MIGHT NOT LIKE

 Price is getting up there

 1.5-litre triple does vibrate a bit

 It also runs on 95 octane premium

 Focus resale values aren’t great

SPEX (Trend)

 Made in Germany

 1.5-litre turbopetrol three-cylinder/

eight-speed automatic/front-wheel

drive

 134kW of power at 6000rpm/240Nm

of torque at 1600rpm

 0-100km/h in 8.9 seconds

 4.9L/100km highway; 7.6L/100km

city; 95 octane premium; CO2

emissions are 133gkm

 Warranty: Five years/unlimited km

 Standard: Six airbags, stability

control, AEB, lane keeping, speed

limiter, 180 degree rear camera,

rear parking sensors, Automatic

headlights and wipers, SYNC3

infortinment, navigation, Bluetooth,

voice control, digital radio, Apple

CarPlay, Android Auto, 16-inch

alloys, leather wrapped steering

wheel

 Redbook future values; 3yr: 45%;

5yr: 27%

compare with ...

Holden Astra, Honda Civic,

Hyundai i30, Mazda3, Toyota

Corolla, Subaru Impreza, VW Golf