The Economist: Detroit Finished

[George Macdonald]

On Fri, 20 Jun 2003 11:31:38 +0100, "Dori Schmetterling" <ng@nospam.co.uk>
wrote:
Indeed. Ford Focus continues as Britain's best-selling motor car and it andthe Mondeo, it's bigger brother, regularly collect plaudits from motoringjournalists. I have rented Focus cars more than once and find them ok.

Unfortunately, Ford decided to retool for the U.S. Focus so in that sense
it's almost a different car and will certainly have different OE suppliers.
That's why it had so many recalls here.

As for motoring journalists, their opinions are limited to drivability
issues of a more or less new car with possibly some insight into
engineering issues - hardly corresponds with the average owner's
"experience".

Rgds, George Macdonald

"Just because they're paranoid doesn't mean you're not psychotic" - Who, me??

[V.B. Mercon]

You are very correct. Most times, by the time a European model is released
here in the USA, it is re-engineered so much that the only thing it has in
common with the European model is the name. If those motoring journalists
got to drive the real thing they would write a different story with the
opening line being..., "Ok, what the heck happened to 'this car'? did they
send only a part of it to the US."

'''''See, we in the US get the crap, others gets the cream...''''''


"George Macdonald" <fammacd=!SPAM^nothanks@tellurian.com> wrote in message
news:3ef5536b.74332573@news.tellurian.com... On Fri, 20 Jun 2003 11:31:38 +0100, "Dori Schmetterling" <ng@nospam.co.uk> wrote: Unfortunately, Ford decided to retool for the U.S. Focus so in that sense it's almost a different car and will certainly have different OE
suppliers. That's why it had so many recalls here. As for motoring journalists, their opinions are limited to drivability issues of a more or less new car with possibly some insight into engineering issues - hardly corresponds with the average owner's "experience". Rgds, George Macdonald "Just because they're paranoid doesn't mean you're not psychotic" - Who,
me??
Indeed. Ford Focus continues as Britain's best-selling motor car and it
andthe Mondeo, it's bigger brother, regularly collect plaudits from motoringjournalists. I have rented Focus cars more than once and find them ok.

[Dori Schmetterling]

I don't disagree with that (e.g. some rave about the Alfa Romeo range, a
garage-owner's delight) but some do consider reliability.

DAS
--
---
NB: To reply directly replace "nospam" with "schmetterling"
---
"George Macdonald" <fammacd=!SPAM^nothanks@tellurian.com> wrote in message
news:3ef5536b.74332573@news.tellurian.com... As for motoring journalists, their opinions are limited to drivability issues of a more or less new car with possibly some insight into engineering issues - hardly corresponds with the average owner's "experience". Rgds, George Macdonald "Just because they're paranoid doesn't mean you're not psychotic" - Who,
me??

[Marc]

"V.B. Mercon" <transmission@ ford@fail> wrote:
'''''See, we in the US get the crap, others gets the cream...''''''

When all you are used to is the crap, you don't know any better.

It is too bad that car buying is such an emotional experience. It would be
interesting to see what the sales figures would be if people approached car
buying solely financially and intellectually.

Marc
For email, remove the first "y" of "whineryy"

[Phil Sharkey]

If folks did that then they'd never buy a "new" car but rather would buy
a collectable or semi-collectable in their price range thus getting a
great ride that goes up in price every year.

Best,

Phil Sharkey

Marc wrote:
"V.B. Mercon" <transmission@ ford@fail> wrote:'''''See, we in the US get the crap, others gets the cream...''''''When all you are used to is the crap, you don't know any better.It is too bad that car buying is such an emotional experience. It would beinteresting to see what the sales figures would be if people approached carbuying solely financially and intellectually.MarcFor email, remove the first "y" of "whineryy"

[Ian]

fammacd=!SPAM^nothanks@tellurian.com (George Macdonald) wrote in message news:<3ef5536b.74332573@news.tellurian.com>...
Unfortunately, Ford decided to retool for the U.S. Focus so in that sense it's almost a different car and will certainly have different OE suppliers. That's why it had so many recalls here. As for motoring journalists, their opinions are limited to drivability issues of a more or less new car with possibly some insight into engineering issues - hardly corresponds with the average owner's "experience".

While we're on driveability issues...horrible rear visibility in the
sedan (which has an ugly rear end, anyway...it ain't helping the
cosmetics any), more body roll than my Colt Wagon (!), and cornering
that generally makes me feel fairly unsafe, I'm not sure why.

[George Macdonald]

On 25 Jun 2003 20:29:24 -0700, andy_christ@yahoo.com (Ian) wrote:
fammacd=!SPAM^nothanks@tellurian.com (George Macdonald) wrote in message news:<3ef5536b.74332573@news.tellurian.com>... Unfortunately, Ford decided to retool for the U.S. Focus so in that sense it's almost a different car and will certainly have different OE suppliers. That's why it had so many recalls here. As for motoring journalists, their opinions are limited to drivability issues of a more or less new car with possibly some insight into engineering issues - hardly corresponds with the average owner's "experience".While we're on driveability issues...horrible rear visibility in thesedan (which has an ugly rear end, anyway...it ain't helping thecosmetics any), more body roll than my Colt Wagon (!), and corneringthat generally makes me feel fairly unsafe, I'm not sure why.

Horrible rear visibility is endemic to the entire car industry... unless
you buy something which compromises trunk size for the car's market slot...
like maybe a BMW. If you want, as the mfr apparently do, a car which has a
large trunk, a pedestrian-friendly front end (no joke), max interior space
utilization and a glass area which doesn't make it a greenhouse, you tend
to end up with something which looks like a wheelbarrow going down the
road. The only alternative reason I can think of is that all the designers
went to the Trabant school of auto design.:-)

Mind you, I think the Toyota Echo has the Focus sedan well beat in terms of
wheelbarrow looks. On a trip to the UK not long after the Focus came out,
what struck me was how the Focus hatchback seems to just fit in there -
just another hatch with a not unattractive, and rather interesting approach
to the genre. I remember thinking "hmmm, it looks quite good"... until I
saw it in the US... where it just doesn't fit quite as well.

Rgds, George Macdonald

"Just because they're paranoid doesn't mean you're not psychotic" - Who, me??