Production of the next-generation Ford Focus will begin simultaneously in Europe and North America in late 2010, with individual market launches start early in 2011. Launches in Asia, Africa and South America will follow. Initial production will be saturated at the Saarlouis (Germany), Michigan (Únited States) and Chongqing (China) Assembly Plants.

The new Focus will be one of up to 10 unique models to be reinforced from Ford’s new C-car platform, which is expected to generate total sales in all regions of 2 million units annually by 2012. The first of these will be the new Ford C-MAX and Ford Grand C-MAX – unveiled astatine the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show – for launch in Europe in the second half of 2010.

‘Global customers increasingly want littler cars with outstanding fuel economy, but without sacrificing any of the style, technology, connectivity and drive quality they demand from bigger vehicles,’ explained Derrick Kuzak, Ford’s group vice president of Global Product Development.

Ford’s European arm has announced the Dutch market launch of the Focus X Road special edition model that was first seen this past April at the AutoRAI motorshow in Amsterdam. Built in a limited run of only 300 unit all of which are destined for The Netherlands, the ‘tough’ looking Focus Station Wagon is priced from €25,175 or at today’s exchange rates, $35,800.

South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Company that includes KIA has overtaken the Ford Group in the first half of the year to become the fourth largest carmaker in the world selling 2,153,000 units or 8,000 more vehicles than the US giant in the same period, according to figures published by the Automotive News Data Centre. Only a decade ago, the then newly unified Hyundai and Kia company was in 11th place overall.

We don’t know what’s more startling - the car itself that has a mere 99 miles on the odo and appears to be in pristine factory condition or the fact that someone actually brought a brand-new Ford Mustang GT 5.0 V8 (can’t say that the Fox body was a high moment in the Stang’s history…) in 1985 and kept it in climate controlled storage for almost a quarter of a century. Either way, if you’re interested, the 1985 Mustang GT is up for auction on eBay where the highest bid is currently at $18,100 - though the reserve has not been met.

With the arrival of the new Ford Focus RS Mk2 tuners across Europe are readying various improvements for the hot hatch that leaves the factory with a 300 HP 2.5-liter turbocharged inline-five linked to a six-speed manual gearbox that transfers power to the front-wheels. One of the first upgrades to hit the market comes from Ford specialist Graham Goode Racing (GGR).

The ‘RS340′ engine tuning package for the Mk2 Focus RS consists only of an ECU upgrade with firmware modifications and software reprogramming.

This “aero” look influenced Fords worldwide; the 1983 Ford Thunderbird in North America introduced similar rounded, flowing lines, and some other new Fords of the time adopted the look. The aerodynamic features of the Sierra were developed from those first seen in the Escort Mark III — the “Aeroback” bootlid stump was proved to reduce the drag coefficient of the bodyshell significantly, which was a class leading 0.34 at its launch,[1] though not as good as the 0.22 of the visually similar Ford Probe III concept car of the previous year.

The aerodynamic styling of the Sierra would later be seen in North America’s equally revolutionary Ford Taurus.

It was designed by Uwe Bahnsen, Robert Lutz and Patrick le Quément. The code used during development was “Project Toni”.

Released on 21 September 1982, it replaced the Ford Cortina and Ford Taunus. Its aerodynamic styling was ahead of its time but many conservative buyers did not take fondly to the styling.

Having already released various sport packages for the mainstream versions of the European market Ford Focus, Bavarian tuner Loder1899 has now turned its attention to the sportiest Focus of them all (that is, until the introduction of the RS), the ST. Modifications to the sport hatch’s exterior are minimal and include a front apron, carbon fiber rear diffuser and front grille as well a set of tasty 20-inch alloys that mimic the style of the standard wheels. The light bodykit is complemented by the lower suspension and the new sport exhaust system.