Peter Lyon
March 9, 2025
In recent years, Ford has been mercilessly thinning out its lineup in the European Union. One seemingly popular model that springs to mind—the Focus—will be going out of production later this year, and interestingly, there doesn’t appear to be a replacement.
As the 27-year-old Focus faces the chopping block, it will join models such as the Fiesta hatchback and Mondeo sedan, which were discontinued in 2022 and 2023 respectively.
It is baffling why the Blue Oval decided to stop producing a car with such a storied history in the EU. However, Ford CEO Jim Farley claimed in a recent interview that the Fiesta, Focus, Fusion (Mondeo), and Taurus models weren’t selling enough to justify spending extra money on new makeovers.
Furthermore, the American automaker thinks that the more recognisable nameplates—such as the Mustang, Raptor, and Bronco—are far better long-term investments. Ford should “[get] out of the boring-car business and into the iconic-vehicle business,” according to Farley. He even expressed his confidence that the Mustang could directly challenge Porsche. Hmmm, that’s a tall order.
It appears that the Dearborn automaker would like to devote more time and energy on producing high-performance Broncos, Ranger and F-150 Raptors, and Mustangs.
Ford PR executives told European buyers that the Focus is still available for purchase, according to Motor1. However, potential buyers will be forced to purchase any remaining stock when the order book is permanently closed.
Customers can still get a 1.0-liter EcoBoost mild-hybrid engine with 125 horsepower or 155 horsepower, a 1.0-liter EcoBoost pure petrol engine with 100 horsepower or 125 horsepower, or a 1.5-liter EcoBlue diesel engine with 95 horsepower or 120 horsepower.
As for the Focus ST, you get a 2.3-liter EcoBoost engine producing 280 horsepower and 420 Nm of torque with it taking 5.7 seconds to jump from 0 to 100 km/h.
CARLIST THOUGHTS
I’m not quite sure what’s happening inside Ford’s product planning division, but cutting popular models like the Focus in Europe seems unnecessary and reminds me of when the Blue Oval pulled out of the Japanese and Indonesian markets a decade ago, citing low profitability. They had competitive cars, like the Mustang and Focus, but for some strange reason, they overpriced those models and lost market share. To me, that’s what a brand is—building up popular models by winning over the hearts of customers and then keeping those models alive and remaining in those hearts and minds. Anyway, the decision has been made to bye bye Focus.
