Ford Focus C-MAX - In Detail

Press Release

Comfort, Confidence and Control

"The Ford Focus C-MAX is a car I'm very proud of. It combines all the key strengths of use of space, contemporary design, dependability and driving quality. It's a fresh new choice for customers - one that sets a new standard for what they should be able to expect in the mid-sized family car market."
Martin Leach, President and Chief Operating Officer, Ford of Europe

• All-new Ford Focus C-MAX: Maximum Comfort, Maximum Confidence, Maximum Control.
• Maximum Comfort: ample legroom and front headroom, great ergonomics, high levels of craftsmanship, innovative and useful storage and interior flexibility, plus a long list of premium interior features, including electronic parking brake, Sonyâ„¢ audio systems, navigation and rear-seat entertainment features.
• Maximum Confidence: intuitive driving environment and commanding seating position, plus standard Intelligent Protection System and dependable new powertrains.
• Maximum Control: predictable and stable dynamic attributes, class leading handling, steering and braking, ABS/mechanical brake assist and Electronic Stability Programme (ESP).

Brentwood, 25 June 2003 - With its sleek, profile, contemporary style, flexible and spacious interior and confident dynamic capabilities, the all-new Ford Focus C-MAX is poised to change customer expectations of what a family car can be. Ford Focus C-MAX is a new addition to the Focus range, which brings greater space, flexibility and comfort, without compromising the acclaimed Focus driving quality.

Focus C-MAX offers unique rear-seat flexibility and a premium driver and passenger environment, along with impressive storage, space and onboard entertainment choices. Focus C-MAX designers opted not to configure the new car for seven seats to avoid compromising style, interior comfort and driving quality. Instead, Focus C-MAX's flexibility has been geared to offer ample space for three rear-seat passengers or significantly improved legroom and shoulder room when there are only two.

Focus C-MAX is larger and taller than the other cars in the Focus range, but it is more compact and poised than some other entrants in the segment. A sleek, stylish exterior makes it clear that Focus C-MAX drives more like a car, and its aerodynamic shape has the lowest drag coefficient in its segment. This sleek exterior contributes to Focus C-MAX's impressively low fuel consumption and low wind noise levels.

Despite being larger and more spacious inside, the body structure of the Focus C-MAX is uncompromised in terms of strength and stiffness. Indeed, body stiffness has long been a key contributor to Focus' hallmark driving quality, and the extremely rigid body structure of the new Focus C-MAX also forms the foundation for its handling, steering and braking capabilities.

Focus C-MAX introduces new powertrain technology to the Ford Focus range, including two new high-pressure common-rail turbodiesel engines and Ford's new six-speed manual transmission.

Focus C-MAX also completes Ford's range of multi-activity vehicles, offering another choice between the compact, new Ford Fusion and the seven-seat Ford Galaxy multi-purpose vehicle (MPV). With these models, plus the Tourneo Connect and Tourneo eight- or nine-seat executive bus, create an unparalleled range of vehicles focused on flexibility and space.

With the introduction of the new Focus C-MAX, the Ford Focus range offers a complete range of bodystyles, also including three-door and five-door hatchbacks, a four-door saloon and a traditional estate.

Focus C-MAX has been designed to build on the strengths of the Focus range, including its advancements in dependability. It is the first model created with Ford Motor Company's new Global Shared Technologies product development methodology.

What's in a name?

"The reaction to the Paris concept car convinced us that the Focus C-MAX name summed up very neatly what this car is all about. Ford Focus, of course, is its family name and it reflects all the strengths of the Ford Focus. 'C' indicates the car's key attributes - Comfort, Confidence, Control - while 'MAX' is short for maximum, which is an expression of the levels these attributes have been targeted to deliver."
Joerg Pfisterer, Ford of Europe's Brand Manager for Medium Cars

Ford gave its spacious and more versatile C-segment vehicle the Focus name deliberately to highlight the unique strengths that were designed to differentiate it from competitors: Maximum Comfort: ample legroom and front headroom, great ergonomics, high levels of craftsmanship, innovative and useful storage and interior flexibility, plus a long list of premium interior features, including electronic parking brake, Sonyâ„¢ audio systems, navigation and rear-seat entertainment features.
Maximum Confidence: intuitive driving environment and commanding seating position, plus standard Intelligent Protection System and dependable new powertrains.
Maximum Control: predictable and stable dynamic attributes, class leading handling, steering and braking, ABS/mechanical brake assist and Electronic Stability Programme (ESP).