My mother bought a Ford Focus...

Let us know in 3 years.

I will definitely keep you up to date if it has any issues. Let's hope American companies are learning from the past.

Not only in manufacturing, but in marketing. It's not enough to have made the strides; they have to make the fact known.

Is that the car whose ads seem to communicate nothing but the fact that you can play mp3 music through the stereo? Yeah - there's a big selling point for me. zzzzz.....

I'll bet it's got nice cup holders too.

Really? I have seen the commercials talk about the new trim, the new design, the fact it comes in a coupe, and the trunk room... maybe you are only getting one commercial in that area? Who knows!

No, I was going to comment on the same thiing as Joe just did. They say nothing about the car, only that two young "music fans" (for lack of the words I'm thinking of ) have great fun saying "play artist _________" at which point the radio blasts forth with that artist. To me, selling a car this way means that there's nothing much to say about it, just to hype the sync feature.

VW did similar things in a couple of their commercials. Maybe Ford is trying to duplicate VW's success at selling cars to 22 year old women who like tailgating better than sex.

No, I have seen those commercials, but I have also seen the other commercials...

With that said... I hate American made vehicles. I just hope this one holds up for my maw...

Not to worry! They're all made in Mexico!

The Focus has been a pretty reliable car. I think your parents will be happy with it.

Except of course if Toyota had the sync feature LOL

Okay, so what does Toyota say about Corollas in their commercials? How about the Tacoma commercials? Are you going to buy a Tacoma because a sea serpent can pick it up and throw it onto the beach without damage, or that some kid simulated it in a video game and used it to slay a dragon? How about those deliberately misleading Tundra commercials? Are you going to run a Tundra down a runway over a ravine with giant metal doors or up and over a giant see-saw? How about the ads Toyota ran for the new RAV4 last year...an animated car running around a dark city...I have no idea what that was supposed to convey.

In general I think Ford has poor TV ads. If I was running Ford, I would look for a different advertising agency. The Ford truck commercials are generally OK, but the car commercials are just dull. I think Ford sees Sync as a feature that a lot of cool young people will like. There is not much to distinguish a Focus from a Corolla or a Sentra. A Focus is less expensive, but trying to sell a new model on low price is not a good idea. It just creates the idea that the Focus is a cheap car. Far better to emphasize positive features. I have seen Focus ads emphasize fuel economy and handling, maybe you should pay more attention. The fact that you actually recall the Sync ads would be considered a plus by an advertising agency. You might not give a hoot about Sync, but at least you noticed. It is the same as with me and the misleading, or merely silly Toyota Truck ads, at least I noticed them.

Ed

Oh, I notice the ads all right, but to me they're a negative. I can't imagine myself (or anyone who wants a car, and not necessarily a rolling juke box activated by voice commands) thinking seriously about buying one based on this peripheral advantage. I happen to own an opposable thumb that's perfectly capable of dialing a radio or controlling a CD. I think overall that negatively perceived ads are more memorable than positive ones....which is one reason I'd never patronize a Carl's Jr. fast food location. I hate their silly, misogynistic, macho ads about their six dollar burgers. I do love to visit their restaurants on the road though....I give them all my restroom business.

It's obvious to a fully functioning adult that humorous ads are not intended to be purely factual. That's much different from the Ford ads which are NOT intended to be funny, and are selling features that don't interest me. I suspect their market research tells them the Focus has a young audience.

As more and more states are banning hand held cell phone, sync is a vary salable addition for ANY manufacture. One will see others will follow, after Ford exclusive rights expire

Sync isn't about only cell phones.

I can buy a $50 Bluetooth piece at Target, that mounts to the visor and gives me handsfree.

You can also hange a six disc CD player and an FM converter under you dash and buy a cheap AM radio if you choose