Last Focus produced at Ford Saarlouis Plant.
www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/ford-focus-production-ends-after-27-years
Saarlouis is a town of 37,000 people !
No Ford plans to use the factory - it has not been put up for sale either.
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I meant to say that Ford has gone from 2nd Biggest Brand in Europe, say 20 years ago, to 12th!
IMHO Ford, in the last 30 years have done little to counter the rise of Hyundai, Kia, Toyota etc and now suffering from strong Chinese Brands in the last few years.
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It's a real shame but I can't really complain as I never bought one. I had small Fords 40 years ago and liked them.
I've only driven one Kia/Hyundai, an i20 courtesy car. It was pretty awful, but there are so many of these makes now and they aren't cheap, so I guess they must be decent.
The golden days of motoring are mostly behind us. I'm so happy to have my now 8 year old MX-5. Spain again next year I think, if we are spared!
I also like my Outlander with its slush box. easy and relaxing. I wish I'd looked after it better when I see what's on offer now.
I greatly admire the Mazda/Yaris hybrid as an appliance. An Escort for our times. But I'm not sure I'm bonding with it.
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Sad to think of the end of the Focus.
I had a Mk2 Titanium with 2 litre petrol engine (Mazda?) and liked it a lot. Toured France in it, very few problems and no outright breakdowns. Drove well, went to over 90,000 miles and was reasonably economical.
Sold to my stepson, who pretty much wrecked it.
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If I'd not needed the kerbweight to match a 14/1500kg caravan I might have looked at a Focus.
Not much in the Ford range that fitted my bill as I'm not a fan of SUV type set ups.
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The Mondeo was a good car with decent towing capacity. And a big useful estate. I think they could have kept it going but when the fleet sales declined they gave up.
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>> The Mondeo was a good car with decent towing capacity. And a big useful estate.
>> I think they could have kept it going but when the fleet sales declined they
>> gave up.
>>
A 58 reg 2litre diesel Mondeo was my first post-company-car purchase (much discounted via Drive the Deal). Served me well for 4+ years before changing.
Checking the MOT History it appears it is still going, as at a month ago, with 192K miles on the clock.
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Great car. After two VW Passat Est family high milers Mrs F downsized to a used 2000 Focus Estate in 2004 with 29,000 miles and the robust 1.6 Zetec and 4F27E Mazda/Ford powertrain. Eighteen years later with 161,000 the rust eventually did for it. Never stranded us, never garage 'serviced', original belts, exhaust and suspension bits. Biggest bills were new fuel pump at 114,000 miles and rear wheel bearings at 150,000. Curiously, its MoT history is still available on the gov website! (X84NJB if you're interested).
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Ford - Focus - end of life after 27 years - Falkirk Bairn
