As published in
www.mellor.net's newsletter.
WITH the Focus confirmed, Ford
Australia's next target is its little
brother, the Fiesta.
At the announcement last week that the
Focus would take over from the Laser
as Ford's small car offering toward the
end of this year, Ford Australia
president Geoff Polites confirmed
the push to grab the new generation
Fiesta were accelerating.
"I think we can put it together," he said
of the continuing negotiations with Ford
of Europe. "We are talking to them".
Ironically, the same issue of supply that
delayed the Australian launch of Focus
to more than three years after it went on
sale in Europe, appears to be the main
impediment to securing the Fiesta.
Certainly, currency is no longer the
issue it once was with exchange rates
easing, while Ford of Europe's own
cost-cutting measures over the past
12-18 months have helped Ford
Australia's cause.
"We've made no secret of the fact we'd
like to get the B-car (Fiesta) out of
Europe. Again, it's a capacity thing in
Europe right now. We are still negotiating
Ford of Europe's capacity position, but it
would add a nice complement to it
(Focus)," Mr Polites said.
But he said there had been no serious
examination of the Fiesta's crossover
spin-off, the Fusion, while the pretty
StreetKa had been dismissed because it
would be too expensive to retail in
Australia.
Mr Polites personally backed the
prospect of selling the 165kW Ford
Focus RS in Australia, which goes on
sale in Europe in July: "If you asked me
personally, yes we would do 25 or 50 of
them, whatever we could get away with.
We haven't looked at it as a company
because Ford of Europe isn't there yet.
They have no idea what it is going to
cost them, no idea what their availability
is. They have no idea what their demand
is. When they get all that sorted out,
then quite clearly that's what we want to
do."
Mr Polites hinted an Australian Rally
Championship program for Focus was a
chance, but indicated it was unlikely to
happen in 2003.
