- Ford reveals most advanced Focus ever – with innovative new and improved technologies – at Geneva Motor Show tomorrow
- New Focus brings SYNC 2, Ford’s advanced in-car connectivity system that features high-resolution colour touch screen and advanced voice control for easy access to audio, navigation, climate control and mobile phones
- New Focus is the first Ford globally to offer the new hands-free Perpendicular Parking technology, which helps drivers reverse into spaces side-to-side with other cars
GENEVA, Switzerland, 3 March 2014 – Ford Motor Company will reveal the advanced new Focus at this week’s Geneva Show – the first European Ford to offer the voice-activated in-car connectivity system SYNC 2.
Ford’s advanced in-car connectivity system features a high-resolution, eight-inch colour touch screen and advanced voice control for easier access to audio, navigation, climate control and compatible mobile phones. SYNC 2’s navigation system also offers a split-screen display for the first time in Europe with detailed intersections, spoken street names, 3D highway junction and landmark views, plus the MICHELIN guide and MICHELIN Green Guide.
SYNC features in more than eight million Ford vehicles since being launched in the U.S. in 2007. SYNC 2, the second generation of the system, is more intuitive and enables drivers to issue simpler “one-shot” navigation destinations. Pushing the voice control button and saying “I’m hungry” will bring up a list of local restaurants, for example.
The new Ford Focus elevates the world’s best-selling nameplate* with a bolder, more emotive exterior design, a finely crafted, intuitive new interior, and major fuel economy improvements.
“Not satisfied with being number one, we wanted to blow people away with a stunning new version of the Focus that would build on this car’s reputation for introducing advanced technology,” said Stephen Odell, president of Ford of Europe, Middle East and Africa. “New Focus will enable people to switch seamlessly between touch screen and voice commands, and also to control more in-car systems than ever before, while keeping their eyes on the road and their hands on the wheel.”
Advanced driving technologies
The new Focus is the first Ford to offer Perpendicular Parking, a new hands-free parking technology that helps drivers reverse into spaces alongside other cars. The current Focus introduced the parallel parking aid Active Park Assist that, at the push of a button, uses ultrasonic sensors to locate parking spaces and steer the vehicle while the driver controls the accelerator and brake. The addition of two new sensors to the rear of the new Focus enables Perpendicular Parking to operate in the same way.
The extra sensors also enable Ford to debut technologies that help drivers as they manoeuvre out of parking spaces:
- Cross Traffic Alert warns drivers reversing out of a parking space of vehicles that may soon be crossing behind them
- Park-Out Assist helps drivers as they exit a parallel parking space. After the driver has chosen either the left or right hand side the system operates the steering while the driver operates the accelerator and brake
New Focus will also be offered with Ford’s MyKey technology for the first time. MyKey enables owners to programme a key – usually for younger drivers – that restricts the top speed, reduces the maximum volume of the audio system, and can disable it altogether if driver and passengers are not using safety belts. The system can prevent the driver from deactivating safety technologies such as Electronic Stability Control and Active City Stop, which can help mitigate or prevent low-speed collisions.
Lighting the way
The improved Adaptive Front Lighting System adjusts the beams of the new Bi-Xenon HID headlamps to best suit the road layout. The system assesses the ambient light surrounding a vehicle, as well as objects in the road ahead and then adjusts the headlight beam angle and intensity to one of seven settings depending on the vehicle’s speed, steering angle and distance to an object in front.
At high speeds, such as on a motorway, the headlights are raised to project a longer, straighter beam for visibility further ahead; in towns where speeds are lower and street lighting more intense, the beam spreads out downwards for more intense illumination of the road immediately ahead. When cornering at lower speeds, the system projects a beam towards the side of the road to make cyclists and pedestrians more visible. The system supports drivers cornering at higher speeds by directing light further into the bend.
The new Focus takes the model’s acclaimed fun-to-drive personality up a level with enhanced handling and steering, and also offers significantly improved fuel efficiency on many versions thanks to new powertrain options. The 120 PS 1.5-litre diesel PowerShift will offer a 19 per cent improvement compared with today’s equivalentfor example.
The new Ford Focus will go on sale in Europe in the second half of 2014.
Ford’s Geneva Show news conference on March 4 at 13.45 (CET) will include the European motor show debut of both new Mustang and the Edge Concept as well as the new Ford Focus.
SYNC 2 is among a suite of life-enhancing new technologies making their European debut
*The Ford Focus is the best-selling vehicle nameplate in the world, based on Ford’s analysis of the latest Polk global vehicle registration data through the third quarter of 2013.
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