Ford Focus Coupe Cabriolet

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Ford lifts the roof of its Pininfarina designed Focus Coupe Cabriolet model which will be available latter this summer

TWO years after the debut of the Vignale Concept at the 2004 Paris Motor Show, Ford finally presented the production version of its open top model named Focus Coupe-Cabriolet.

"We were delighted with the reaction to the Focus Vignale Concept and were determined to progress it to volume production," said Gunnar Herrmann, Vehicle Line Director for the Ford Focus. "We also wanted to keep the production model as true to the beautiful concept car as we could, while making it convenient and affordable for everyday use."

Designed and jointly developed by Italian specialist, Pininfarina, Fords four seater Coupe-Cabriolet uses a two piece folding electric hardtop offering a substantial luggage compartment with more than 500 litres of useable space.

Unlike most of its competitors like the Renault Megane CC and The Peugeot 307 CC, the Focus Coupe Cabriolet seems to look good judging by the pictures, even with its top up, thanks to the gently arched coupe roof and especially, the well-proportioned bootlid area. Inside, the emphasis is on refinement, and elegance with the use of premium quality materials. That is the only difference between Focus hatchback and the Coupe Cabriolet interiors. The preview model is trimmed with an attractive two-tone interior, with the upper instrument panel coloured in the new, dark-elegant 'Iris' and contrasting to the trim and the luxurious leather seats in light 'Camel'.

"The initial design intent of the Vignale Concept remained almost untouched during its transition to the production Focus Coupé-Cabriolet," said Chris Bird, Director Design, Ford of Europe. "The new Focus also provided us with a great starting point from which the design team could create a really distinctive dual-personality vehicle."

Ford's new Coupé-Cabriolet model will be offered with a choice of three powertrains: two petrol engines, the 100 PS 1.6-litre Duratec and the 145 PS 2.0-litre Duratec, and the latest generation 136 PS 2.0-litre Duratorq TDCi diesel.

The new Ford Focus Coupé-Cabriolet will go on sale across Europe from later this summer. It is estimated that approximately 20,000 vehicles will be produced per year.

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