New Ford Focus commercial targets Prius

[zak.kapoor]

Ah! the sweet smell of victory

Our (priuschat) whole purpose as a group is to make the top execs in car and oil companies realize that people DO care about the world. Hidden in this advertisement I see the fact that the execs are getting our message and taking it seriously.

Time for a victory dance.

Ford Focus is not a bad car. The gas mileage is decent. It is always good to have competition to keep the car companies honest. In my opinion Focus is still a lame duck when compared to Prius. Much smaller and significantly lower mileage. Maybe a potential commute car for someone who can't afford the Prius.

[hiremichaelreid]

Originally Posted by Rybold

Seven grand can buy a lot of gasoline."

That doesn't qualify as a good argument. It's just a statement that means nothing but is intended to imply Focus will save you more overall than Prius, which is bogus except in unusual circumstances.

This is the sort of pseudo-argument that DOES impact and influence those who don't have the math skills or interest in comparing total costs of ownership. Yes, IMO, some will accept this "argument" and feel happy about saving money on a Focus. Many will never add up all the costs five years from now to see if they were right.

IMO, Prius is clearly the king of fuel efficiency AND TCO (in most circumstances) for a family car.

Everybody else wants to dethrone the king with their "Prius killers" or at least "contenders" like the Focus.


BTW, I've heard it said, and have at least partial belief, that advertising is less for getting new sales and more for convincing existing owners they made the right choice. How many of us feel "smug" and "smart" about our purchases and enjoy Prius ads more for it ? When owners feel they made a smart decision, they will let others know and thus "virally market" their cars.

Perhaps this ad is at least partly for all the Focus owners who may regret not getting a Prius or other more fuel efficient car, now that gas prices have exploded ?


....

[Sufferin' Prius Envy]

Originally Posted by Bob Wible

CNN did a little comparison of the top fuel effecient cars (link below). I doudt you will see this in any Ford Commercials.
Fuel-Sipper-Smackdown: Personal Finance News from Yahoo! Finance

Even that article got it partially wrong regarding the Prius.

"The Prius lagged a bit behind the Jetta in highway and back road driving. In those situations, the Prius's battery-boosted hybrid drive system didn't help much, forcing its small gasoline engine to do most of the work."

That's like saying, "the second place cross country runner's arms didn't help much, forcing his legs to do most of the work." Cut off the battery-boost or the runner's arms, and I highly doubt either would have finished second.

[donee]

Hi All,

This all being said, Ford is working on a hybrid midsize car using the work they did on the Escape as a basis. They are a little late with that one, but it should give the Camry Hybrid and Altima Hybrid some competition. Why they do not have that car, and a mini-van out by now, is a great mystery. Maybe it will even force Nissan to go into really large production with the Altima Hybrid, and sell it 50 state wide. One can hope!

[Toyota Fan]

For me it's not even so much about the dollars and cents. It's the quality and safety of my car, and the smile factor. Happens every time I get behind the wheel.
Not everyone can afford to buy a Prius during this difficult financial time we live in, and I am glad to see other car companies are making the move to less pollution and greater fuel savings.
I will gladly share the road with a Ford Focus.
G

[MikeSF]

If they put as much effort into designing a car that's efficient as they do with their advertising campaigns..... (don't need to say much more).

I reminded of the info-ads where they say tobacco companies spent millions of dollars advertising the fact they gave a few hundred thousand to charities.

[Froley1]

My belief is that the purchase of a prius is a vote for real hybrid vehicles, lower emissions and useage of technology...I hope that my purchase/vote will someday lead to viable electric car technology. This is one among many reasons that i purchased mine...i could not make this statment by purchasing any other vehicle right at the moment.

I understand that not all can afford a prius and do a purchase with as high a mileage capability that they can which as previously mentioned is a step in the right direction.

This voting with our dollars is the only thing ignorant CEO's understand...the prius is more than a car it is a statement of where we the consumer wish to go that the focus does not make.

Froley

[Rakimb17]

Let's not forget that Ford still builds CRAP vehicles. I actually considered buying a new Focus last summer for the gas mileage. When I went to a dealer I saw three brand new Focus with mis-aligned hoods trunks and fenders. Not one car, but three! The salesman tried to say that it probably happened in transport, but there were zero marks on the paint. I will never consider purchasing a Ford again. You can negate that 7K savings because you will need to do major repairs to your Focus more often. I highly doubt that the Sync system in new Focus has made the Quality Assurance people any better.

[hiremichaelreid]

Originally Posted by Toyota Fan

Not everyone can afford to buy a Prius during this difficult financial time we live in, and I am glad to see other car companies are making the move to less pollution and greater fuel savings.
I will gladly share the road with a Ford Focus.
G

I agree. Even in good times, not everyone can afford any car, period.

Total Cost of Ownership studies may not take into account that some people are unable to finance at all, or unable to finance at lower than 30+% effective interest rates.

If you are forced into using credit card debt to make Prius payments, then yes, you should consider no car or a cheaper to buy car; your actual TCO may be lower.

[blamy]

He makes the comparasion at $4.00 a gallon and calculates the savings from that. Does ANYONE on this board believe that the price of gas is going to remain static at $4.00 for the next 18 years??? LMAO; get a Prius and forget about all the commercials for other cars. They are going to lie or at best stretch the truth to the unimaginable. It is funny sometimes, some of the wild things they say to get you into the dealership.