New European Market Ford Focus ECOnetic Expected to Return 3.5 lt/100 km or 67.2MPG

A new variant of the latest Focus with the ECOnetic moniker and a segment leading fuel efficiency will soon be added to Ford’s European lineup. According to the company, the diesel-powered Focus ECONetic is expected to use less than 3.5 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (equal to 80 mpg UK or 67.2 mpg US) and return ultra-low CO2 emissions of less than 95g/km when final certification is completed later this year.

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Ford Sues Nissan Over Brazilian TV Ad that Ridicules the Focus for Being Overpriced [with Video]

Ford’s Brazilian arm has filed a criminal (!) lawsuit against the local division of Nissan for airing an aggressive TV commercial directed at the Focus sub-compact. To make a long story short, the parody-like ad points the finger at Ford for allegedly overpricing its Focus model.

The TV spot, which looks exactly like a rap video, shows two men dressed as Ford engineers living the big life with gold chains and rings, plenty of champagnes, and –the best part- an exotic assortment of sexy women in bikinis dancing around them. And oh, there’s also a silver Ford Focus on the background….

At the end, the commercial announces the price of Nissan’s Tiida sub-compact (sold as the Versa in the States), which in Brazil, costs around BR 3,000 or a little over US$1,800 less than Ford’s rivaling Focus.

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New Video of Ford’s 2012 Focus ST Hot Hatch

Ford’s European arm has released yet another video of its upcoming Focus ST sport hatch that’s expected to hit the market early next year. There’s nothing new to see per se as the company has already published numerous teaser films in the months following the car’s introduction at the 2010 Paris Motor Show.

As a reminder, the hottest version of the new generation Focus (that is, until Ford decides to resurrect the RS nameplate in the near future) will be propelled by a force-fed 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine cranking out 250 ponies and 360 Nm / 265 lb ft of torque. The show car was equipped with a six-speed manual gearbox driving the front wheels, but there’s a good chance the production model will also be offered with a dual clutch transmission. Hit the jump for the video.

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