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German Engineering...

4561 Views 10 Replies 6 Participants Last post by AutoFocus, Mar 24, 2015

Creedence

Discussion Starter · Feb 9, 2015

Quite glad the RS will be making its way over via Germany and not from some facility down in Mexico. USDM Focus' have been JUNK in terms of reliability since the redesign...

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A family member has just bought a new Ford Grand C-Max, still to be delivered, that is being put together in Saarlouis as I type this. We expect delivery around the end of March. It will be interesting to take a peek and check the overall build quality, insulation, etc.

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centurion

· #3 · Mar 14, 2015

FocusNostalgic said:
A family member has just bought a new Ford Grand C-Max, still to be delivered, that is being put together in Saarlouis as I type this. We expect delivery around the end of March. It will be interesting to take a peek and check the overall build quality, insulation, etc.

Just insure that when you guys do take the time to initially inspect the vehicle, that you go about doing that while at the dealer before rolling it out of the show room and on the way home.

Keep us posted!

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FocusNostalgic

· #4 · Mar 14, 2015

centurion said:
Just insure that when you guys do take the time to initially inspect the vehicle, that you go about doing that while at the dealer before rolling it out of the show room and on the way home.

Keep us posted!

Good point there, and it better be top notch because there has been a significant delay in getting this car. It boils down to the fact that the order was put through right as Ford was in the process of switching manufacturing plants for that model. If I remember correctly it used to be built in Spain.

And incidentally it has been specced in Magnetic Grey :laugh:

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AutoFocus

· #5 · Mar 16, 2015

Is it really 'German Engineering' ? Engineers of the USA under Ford have magically come together to engineer this well put together vehicle soon to enlighten us with its true colors when it comes out. The Focus may be put together and assembled in Germany but the engineering behind this drift beast comes straight from Ford's R&D.

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Jobber

· #6 · Mar 16, 2015

AutoFocus said:
Is it really 'German Engineering' ? Engineers of the USA under Ford have magically come together to engineer this well put together vehicle soon to enlighten us with its true colors when it comes out. The Focus may be put together and assembled in Germany but the engineering behind this drift beast comes straight from Ford's R&D.

True yes, but a significant portion came from the old RS know how, the vehicle is primarily designed for European consumers, much like the Mustang is primarily designed for US consumers...

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FocusNostalgic

· #7 · Mar 16, 2015

The way Ford described it, the Performance team is indeed spread across both continents. But as long as they're not each pulling in a different direction, it should work fine. Concorde is the perfect example of what can be achieved by teams from different countries working together. But I have to admit, I really don't mind that the car will be built in Germany, the car I'm driving now is a testament to the build quality and the attention to detail these guys can put in. I think depending on how few or how many gremlins make it into the final product will be a good indication of how much Ford has invested into this relocation. What I would expect based on a mix of past experience and good old silly assumption is an overall increased lifespan and a lower rate of decay. If the rattles come later in the car's life, the switches stay responsive and effective longer, and the electrics don't develop random faults within the first 6 months, I would say mission accomplished.

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AutoFocus

· #8 · Mar 19, 2015

Jobber said:
True yes, but a significant portion came from the old RS know how, the vehicle is primarily designed for European consumers, much like the Mustang is primarily designed for US consumers...

Ahh I see, well that's great then! Being built in Germany will increase quality of build, in my opinion. It will be nice to drive a Ford built in Germany

It will feel like i'm driving a modified BMW hatchback.. obviously not exactly.

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S.Elliot

· #9 · Mar 19, 2015

What I would expect based on a mix of past experience and good old silly assumption is an overall increased lifespan and a lower rate of decay. If the rattles come later in the car's life, the switches stay responsive and effective longer, and the electrics don't develop random faults within the first 6 months, I would say mission accomplished.

It's just too bad that with a vehicle like this, if we really want it, waiting to see how the initial batches go might not be an option while ensuring we do eventually we one.

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FocusNostalgic

· #10 · Mar 21, 2015

It's true that with the one assembly line taking care of all global orders, if the early adopters from all the targetted markets put in an early order then we'll all be looking at a long waiting list. I'd imagine the time for pushing an RS through the line to be longer than for the standard car, but maybe this is outdated thinking.

It's interesting because there's good and potentially bad aspects to a centralized global production. On the plus side, they will have all the experience from building the regular focus, and as soon as there is a problem, they can quickly integrate the fix into the production line. All the quality control can be focussed on the one production line for the RS, but at the same time if there are issues that are known to affect the regular and ST versions, the RS line will be able to take those into account as they fine-tune the production process.

On the negative side, it might take a while for the designers and engineers to get their hands on feedback from customers in other parts of the world. Let's say the american drivers identify one fault, and the japanese users identify another, then the information has to be channeled through, interpreted, and any changes need to be validated to conform to the norms of all those places. That could be a problem actually. I imagine they have a list of requirements for conformity at a global level, but to develop solutions and integrate them into the already-running production line while at the same time making sure it works everywhere in the world is quite a tough job.

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AutoFocus

· #11 · Mar 24, 2015

Patient is key when buying a car like this in my opinion. I like to wait until 6 month to a year before I purchase - getting the later cars coming out the production line.

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