Escort Replacement Introduced
March, 1998 -- Jacques Nasser, CEO of Ford Motors, introduced the replacement for the current-generation Escort at the Geneva International Auto Show. The new car, which was kept a great distance from this writer's prying eyes, is a continuation of Ford's latest design trend, New Edge. Featuring soft curves and blunt lines the new Escort, now called the Focus, is of the same styling lineage as the Ford Ka and Mercury Cougar, meaning that the car looks highly aggressive and machined.
Nasser claims that the changes to the Escort, er, Focus are more than skin deep. An all-new platform renders the car 100-percent stiffer than the model it replaces, and a new fully independent rear suspension means that it is more likely to stay glued to the road.
The Focus has some surprising equipment items that are not normally found in a car of this type. Among them are 4-channel anti-lock brakes, all-speed traction control, and ESP (electronic stability control), which allows the anti-lock brakes to automatically correct the car's path if it is headed in an unintended direction.
All of this occurs in a car that gets 25-percent better gas mileage than the current Escort and that is 50- percent quieter than most compacts on the market. Now, why can't these guys just make a Mustang that goes faster than the Camaro?
March, 1998 -- Jacques Nasser, CEO of Ford Motors, introduced the replacement for the current-generation Escort at the Geneva International Auto Show. The new car, which was kept a great distance from this writer's prying eyes, is a continuation of Ford's latest design trend, New Edge. Featuring soft curves and blunt lines the new Escort, now called the Focus, is of the same styling lineage as the Ford Ka and Mercury Cougar, meaning that the car looks highly aggressive and machined.
Nasser claims that the changes to the Escort, er, Focus are more than skin deep. An all-new platform renders the car 100-percent stiffer than the model it replaces, and a new fully independent rear suspension means that it is more likely to stay glued to the road.
The Focus has some surprising equipment items that are not normally found in a car of this type. Among them are 4-channel anti-lock brakes, all-speed traction control, and ESP (electronic stability control), which allows the anti-lock brakes to automatically correct the car's path if it is headed in an unintended direction.
All of this occurs in a car that gets 25-percent better gas mileage than the current Escort and that is 50- percent quieter than most compacts on the market. Now, why can't these guys just make a Mustang that goes faster than the Camaro?
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