The next 12 months will be busy ones for Ford. The Kuga SUV and a replacement for the Fiesta supermini are already slated for a 2008 launch, with a new version of the ageing Ka expected early in 2009.
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Speaking at the launch of the facelifted Focus, Ford bosses have also confirmed there will be new vehicles for new market segments beyond that – but are keeping mum about the specifics.
Corey Holter is marketing manager for the C-segment, which includes the Focus, C-MAX and Kuga.
When quizzed about whether the blue oval would offer a big brother for the Kuga, he was non-committal. But he steered the conversation in an interesting direction, adding: “I think there is room for us to have a second SUV, but does it have to be an SUV or could it be a crossover product?
By starting in the C-segment we are in the middle of the SUV sector, so a future product could go bigger or smaller,” he said.
Holter also confirmed that turning the next generation C-MAX into a seven-seater, by adding in a third row of fold-flat occasional chairs, was a possibility. The popular compact MPV was facelifted last spring, so its replacement is at least two years away. The chance for customers to have two more seats without needing to buy the larger S-MAX or Galaxy could be attractive to customers, he said.
“These things, along with many others, are ones that we could possibly do. As a volume player there are many sectors we would like to be in, but we have to work out how many people would buy them versus what it would cost to develop them. It’s about looking at the tea leaves and working out the future.”
