A poll by Auto Express has disclosed that the Ford Focus MkI may well be the best car of the last 25 years. Despite the fact you can pick one up for just £300, the car topped a list that included Porsches and Ferraris as the car readers loved most. Meanwhile, Ford has revealed a new sub-brand, Vignale, to take Ford headlong into the luxury market.
The Ford Focus
The Ford Focus MkI, first introduced in 1998, has sold 9.2 million units since its launch. Replacing the Ford Escort, the Focus is a car that redefined the family market and the compact vehicle category across the world. Auto Express puts this down to “its superb handling, radical style and fine practicality” while Ford talks about the car’s “class-leading fuel economy, distinctive kinetic design and strong driving dynamics.”
Whatever the determining factors in its enduring success, the Ford Focus has undoubtedly played an important role in making Ford cars the best-selling cars in the UK for more than a decade.
Top of the polls
The poll saw the Lancia Delta Integrale come in second and the McLaren F1, with a top speed of 240mph, placed third. More no-nonsense family cars in the top 10 included the MINI Cooper and the Volkswagen Golf 7.
Jack Rix, news editor of Auto Express magazine, commented: “The Ford Focus has beaten a hot hatch with world rally championship-winning pedigree and the world's greatest supercar to the top prize.
The Insitute of Advanced Motorists was also quick to praise the “simple family car”, calling it a “reliable form of mass transportation.”
Moving into the luxury market
However, despite these accolades for their simple, affordable family cars, Ford is keen to continually improve and upgrade their offering, today announcing an “exclusive product and ownership experience” in the form of a new sub-brand called Vignale– pronounced Vin Ya Lay – inspired by exclusive services from outside the automotive world.
The Vignale vision currently takes the form of the Ford Mondeo Vignale Concept (pictured), due to be launched at the Frankfurt Motor Show next week, with the Vignale experience due to be rolled out across all Ford models from early 2015.
The Ford Mondeo Vignale, presented in a 4-door saloon and an estate, features:
- Detailed 20” Vignale alloy wheels
- A Vignale badge (in fact, there is no Mondeo badge!)
- Chrome door handles, mirror caps & lower mouldings
- A mesh grille and unique front bumper and fog lamp design
- Exclusive Nocciola dark brown coachwork
- Cool quilted trim and exclusive seating with Vignale detailing
- Leather armrests and high-quality, soft touch leather on the steering wheel, instrument panel, centre console, door top-rolls and centre arm-rest - basically you can't move for leather.
- Embossed scuff plates and luxury floor mats
- Ford SYNC with MyFord Touch in-car connectivity system (giving you WiFi access and use of your smartphone whilst driving)
- New-generation adaptive LED headlamps
Stephen Odell, Ford president of Europe, Middle East and Africa, says: “Vignale represents the highest expression of the Ford brand in Europe from both a product and from an ownership experience perspective. The Ford Mondeo Vignale Concept showcases the features that customers tell us they want in terms of styling and quality, advanced technology and exclusivity.”
Competing for attention against the Audi A4, BMW 3 Series and Mercedes-Benz C-Class, the full Vignale experience will come to the UK market in early 2015. It follows a “trend towards time-saving services” and apparent demand for high-end Ford products – the high specification models produced by Ford currently account for 50% of their car sales in Europe.
“Ford Vignale premium services will meet the needs of the customer for whom time is the ultimate luxury,” said Gaetano Thorel, Marketing vice president, Ford of Europe. Indeed, the new Vignale concept “prevents defection of Ford customers who believe they need to go somewhere else as they progress in their careers and make more money,” according to Ford's European sales chief, Roelant de Waard. He also hinted that it would be less expensive than its German rivals.
Ford isn’t stopping at fancy leather interiors and a new name badge. The ‘lifestyle’ element of the new offering means there will not only be a range of Vignale accessories, but also free car washes for the life of the vehicle. If this is enough to tempt their devoted fans away from used Ford Focus MkI models and into a world of leather, weekend travel bags and a quilted trim, then Ford’s risky move will have paid off.