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#1 2009-11-02 11:35 pm
Another Troubling Sign of the Automotive Times
A brochure for the 2010 Ford Focus recently came in the mail. I've previously ranted about how incredibly stupid it was for Ford to eliminate the hatchback version of this car. Now, upon perusing the brochure, I find further proof that the poor little Focus has truly lost its way: The brochure contains absolutely no mention of the car's engine.
Not one word.
Believe me, I've looked. Plenty of talk about Sync, which lets you use voice commands to control your iPod or flash drive (since when do cars need to talk to flash drives?), and plenty of verbiage about the Sirius satellite radio and the "driver's message center," but not one word about the engine!
Check the specs page, under Power & Handling, and you'll find information about the transmission and final drive ratio, but nothing about the engine.
Yes, there's only one engine available on the 2010 model, but so what? There are plenty of other car models out there which have only one motor, with no optional engine upgrades, and their brochures still at least mention a few basics, such as displacement and horsepower.
Perhaps Ford is hoping we'll forget the car has an engine and therefore conclude that it's very "green" and eco-friendly.
Here's the sportiest Focus Ford will deign to sell in America:
And here's the sportiest Focus available in Europe:
The pictures don't even express how radically different the two cars are. The US SES Coupe is, at best "sporty." The European Cosworth RS is a world-beater.
Sigh.
"It's better to be a pirate than to join the Navy."
--Steve Jobs
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#2 2009-11-02 11:38 pm
Re: Another Troubling Sign of the Automotive Times
Ford just wants you to drive your computer to work.
There's what you love to do, and then there's what you get paid to do. Those two things are often different.
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#3 2009-11-02 11:44 pm
- Tallgeese
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Re: Another Troubling Sign of the Automotive Times
Bren wrote:
The pictures don't even express how radically different the two cars are. The US SES Coupe is, at best "sporty." The European Cosworth RS is a world-beater.
Sigh.
I think that the continued success of cars like the Corolla have convinced automakers that compact-buying Americans want something with all the styling of their dishwasher.
I still believe in liberalism today as much as I ever did, but, oh, there was a happy time when I believed in liberals.
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#4 2009-11-02 11:59 pm
Re: Another Troubling Sign of the Automotive Times
No kidding. Ford's currently running a TV ad for their Flex or Fusion or whatever the heck it is, where the viewer is riding shotgun with some silly girl who, in talking about the car's power, asserts that "It really hauls!"
Hauls?
As in ass?
God, sometimes I really hate advertisers, and I hate popular slang.
The ad feels just similar enough to the "Lauren gets an HP Pavilion" Laptop Hunters ad that it makes me want to throw something at the TV.
"It's better to be a pirate than to join the Navy."
--Steve Jobs
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#5 2009-11-03 12:08 am
- Tallgeese
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Re: Another Troubling Sign of the Automotive Times
What kind of name is "Pavilion" for a computer, anyway?
I still believe in liberalism today as much as I ever did, but, oh, there was a happy time when I believed in liberals.
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#7 2009-11-03 12:29 am
Re: Another Troubling Sign of the Automotive Times
It's about as good as "Probe."
Furthermore, I have a friend who couldn't look at billboard ads for the Dodge Magnum without thinking of Trojan's largest condoms. She was convinced this was an intentional thing on Dodge's part, done to appeal to the male buyer's sense of wang.
"It's better to be a pirate than to join the Navy."
--Steve Jobs
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#8 2009-11-03 6:00 am
- macnuke
- just a plano guy
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Re: Another Troubling Sign of the Automotive Times
Jokotai wrote:
What kind of name is "Vibe" for a car?
i hear lotsa girls like to drive those
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#9 2009-11-03 10:18 am
- Tallgeese
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Re: Another Troubling Sign of the Automotive Times
Bren wrote:
It's about as good as "Probe."
Furthermore, I have a friend who couldn't look at billboard ads for the Dodge Magnum without thinking of Trojan's largest condoms. She was convinced this was an intentional thing on Dodge's part, done to appeal to the male buyer's sense of wang.
Well yeah. "Magnum" "Charger" "Ram", the super-aggressive grille. The marketing of Dodge vehicles is pretty obvious.
I still believe in liberalism today as much as I ever did, but, oh, there was a happy time when I believed in liberals.
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#10 2009-11-03 10:20 am
- Tallgeese
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Re: Another Troubling Sign of the Automotive Times
Oh, and Ford must be doing something right - they just posted a billion dollar profit for Q3.
I still believe in liberalism today as much as I ever did, but, oh, there was a happy time when I believed in liberals.
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#11 2009-11-03 11:26 am
- mrreet2001
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Re: Another Troubling Sign of the Automotive Times
Bren wrote:
Furthermore, I have a friend who couldn't look at billboard ads for the Dodge Magnum without thinking of Trojan's largest condoms. She was convinced this was an intentional thing on Dodge's part, done to appeal to the male buyer's sense of wang.
It could be from the latin word magnum (mangus) meaning (large, great, important) 
Last edited by mrreet2001 (2009-11-03 1:39 pm)
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#12 2009-11-03 12:56 pm
- D'Eyncourt
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Re: Another Troubling Sign of the Automotive Times
Who in the US will be shopping for a Ford Focus where the engine size will be even close to the top of his list of concerns?
Oh, Bren would--enough said. 
BOYCOTT SONY
"I think the question now is not whether you went to Vietnam or whether you didn't, whether you fought in the war or fought against the war. I think the only question is whether we can find a president smart enough never to make a mistake like that again"--Molly Ivins, way back in 1992
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#13 2009-11-03 1:13 pm
- macnuke
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Re: Another Troubling Sign of the Automotive Times
mrreet2001 wrote:
Bren wrote:
Furthermore, I have a friend who couldn't look at billboard ads for the Dodge Magnum without thinking of Trojan's largest condoms. She was convinced this was an intentional thing on Dodge's part, done to appeal to the male buyer's sense of wang.
I could be from the latin word magnum (mangus) meaning (large, great, important)
and those of us that just thought "Dodge Maggot"
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#14 2009-11-03 1:21 pm
- Tallgeese
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Re: Another Troubling Sign of the Automotive Times
D'Eyncourt wrote:
Who in the US will be shopping for a Ford Focus where the engine size will be even close to the top of his list of concerns?
Oh, Bren would--enough said.
Also, the website for the Focus has engine listed reasonably prominently.
I still believe in liberalism today as much as I ever did, but, oh, there was a happy time when I believed in liberals.
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#15 2009-11-03 4:56 pm
Re: Another Troubling Sign of the Automotive Times
Well I should hope so. But I wasn't talking about the Web site. I'm talking about the brochure. And this goes beyond merely omitting the engine size; there is no mention of the engine at all. Most manufacturers like to brag about the technology under their cars' hoods. To carefully avoid it is, as far as I know, unprecedented.
"It's better to be a pirate than to join the Navy."
--Steve Jobs
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#16 2009-11-03 6:28 pm
- Tallgeese
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Re: Another Troubling Sign of the Automotive Times
The brochure is clearly targeted at a certain audience.
I still believe in liberalism today as much as I ever did, but, oh, there was a happy time when I believed in liberals.
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