Focus on popularity potential

Italian design house Pininfarina had a hand in the design of the Focus coupe/cabriolet.

Ford New Zealand will "watch with interest" the public's reaction to the open-top variant of its Ford Focus, to be unveiled at the Geneva motor show today.

But the convertible is unlikely to go on sale here, says Ford NZ public affairs manager Claire Ponton. "We would need to make a strong business case for it to be available in New Zealand. But we will watching with interest how sales go in Europe."

The four-seater coupe/cabriolet is the production version of the Vignale concept unveiled at the Paris motor show in 2004.

It has been developed jointly by Ford of Europe and Italian design house Pininfarina and will go into production in June. "We were delighted with the reaction to the Focus Vignale concept," says Gunnar Herrmann, vehicle line director for the Ford Focus. "We wanted to keep the production model as true to the beautiful concept car as we could, while making it convenient and affordable for everyday use."

The coupe/cabriolet joins the Focus ST at the top of the Focus range. The two-piece folding electric hardtop can be turned into a cabriolet within seconds at the push of a button.

"The initial design intent of the Vignale concept remained almost untouched during its transition to the production Focus coupe/cabriolet," says Chris Bird, director of design for Ford of Europe.

The open-top Focus will be offered in Britain and Europe with a choice of 1.6 and 2-litre Duratec petrol units and a 2-litre turbodiesel.