By Brendan Moore
Ford is showing off their new Ford Focus Wagon in Geneva this week, the wagon that is available with a 2.0 liter diesel engine and a 1.4 liter Ecoboost gasoline engine.
Wait for it, wait for the punchline.
You’re too clever for me. That’s right; we don’t get the wagon or those engines in the North American market.
The new Focus wagon is the fifth iteration of Ford’s new C-Class platform. The tally so far is the new C-Max, the Grand C-Max, the Focus sedan, the Focus 5-door hatchback, and now, the wagon. The last piece of this puzzle (for now) is the upcoming Kuga, the attractive little crossover that has been shown just about everywhere in the last couple of years. Ford reportedly has another four cars derived from this platform in the product pipeline, scheduled to be brought out over the next few years.
As to the reason why the wagon won’t be sold in North America, it is no secret that almost all of the American public finds the idea of driving around in a wagon repellent to their very being, and that pretty much sums it up.
Personally, I am a fan of wagons, and we actually have a couple of other guys here at Autosavant that are wagon fans as well, but we apparently represent the fringe minority of American vehicle owners. Ford says only about 4% of the Ford Focus production went to wagons the last time they offered the wagon model in the Focus lineup.
It’s different in Europe, of course. The wagon version of the Focus accounts for a third of all Focus sales on the Continent. In certain countries, like Germany and Italy, the wagon pulls over a 50% share of Focus sales.
John Fleming, Ford of Europe’s chairman, says, “A key strength of the Ford Focus range in Europe has always been its wagon, and its popularity is second only to the five-door. These customers want the extra space and flexibility a traditional wagon provides, yet they still expect all of the technology, great driving dynamics and superb styling. We believe the new Focus wagon will more than satisfy their requirements in every way.”
North Americans will get the five-door hatchback Focus, which offers a lot of utility, and is a very versatile car, so the deprivation doesn’t cut too deeply, but still, we can’t help but feel a little left out vis-à-vis the wagon version. If you’re a wagon fan and want to enhance this self-torture, click on the photo thumbnails below, and look at the additional full-size shots of the Focus Wagon – it’s a looker.
Sales of the new Focus sedan and the hatchback start in North America next year.
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