Ford has launched a new high-value entry-level version of the Focus, that lowers the entry point into its family hatchback range by a substantial £2,000.
The new Ford Focus 1.6 TI-VCT 85 Studio goes on sale in September, in time for the key ’61′ registration plate change. That headline list price slots it in beneath the current £16,000 Focus 1.6 TI-VCT 105 Edge lead-in car.
Ford is launching the new value Focus line because stocks of the outgoing Ford Focus have finally sold out (after 15,000 deliveries since last October). Ford was using this model, in Sport trim, as a budget alternative to the all-new Focus for those who didn’t have upwards of £16,000.
Now it has gone, Ford’s extended the new Focus range downwards, with the new budget Studio trim line.
Nigel Sharp, Ford of Britain managing director, said: “With the high end of the new Focus range fully established, we are now making it easier for customers to get behind the wheel at the entry level – and this new Studio model is not only affordable but it is also well equipped, attractive and economical too.”
Sharp is not wrong. The Focus Studio still has all the essentials: air con is standard, as are electric windows and mirrors, ESP stability control, USB connectivity and a body-colour rear spoiler. The only significant visual differentiator is a lack of alloys: Ford fits ‘alloy-style’ 16-inch wheel trims instead.
It’s slower than the current entry level Focus: the 85hp 1.6-litre engine produces 20hp less, although it’s no more fuel-efficient as a result. 47.9mpg is still good for a petrol motor though, as are CO2 emissions of 136g/km.
The only real limiter is colour. Ford offers the new Studio model in just three colours – and only one of them, white, is a non-metallic, no-cost colour. So, unless you want a white Focus, your entry-level price will actually be £495 higher…
