Much noise was made about Farba Guard possibly giving preferential treatment to Mashfique’s trusty 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee when it went in for a detailing job last year and that the same quality was not provided to other customers. To silence all that, and just because we had the opportunity to avail the discounted DriveArabia price, we grabbed a friends’ 2007 Ford Focus for some pampering.
Oman’s Team Qadiroon, comprising of Azzan Abdul Amir Hameed, Faisal Fadhil Mahmood Al Bakri and Issam Abdullah Said Al-Kharusi, won the Ford Focus Rabaa Inter-GCC Rally challenge last Sunday, part of a marketing stunt to promote the Ford Focus.
The Ford Focus Raba’a Rally is an “interactive inter-GCC rally tour that will pit six teams from six different GCC countries on “a test for driving skills, endurance, and the use of tech found in the 2012 Ford Focus”, as participants drive across all of the GCC countries to complete a series of tasks. Teams will be rated on “their skills and performances rather than speed, as well as the level of participation and support of their fans.” Each team will be headed by their respective “celebrity” national captains, who have already been picked out from the local entertainment and sports scene.
The 2012 Ford Focus went on sale in the GCC recently, and to promote the car, Ford Middle East is doing an event called Ford Focus Rabaa Rally in an “interactive inter-GCC rally tour.”
When we saw the 2012 Ford Focus in person for the first time at the Dubai Motor Show, we were quite impressed by the attractive-than-most design and the better-than-most quality. In our book, it had already won the battle with the Hyundai Elantra and the Honda Civic just sitting there on the show floor. Then we took it for a brief spin at a public “Ford Factor” event, which didn’t tell us much, other than it can match the smaller Ford Figo on a tight autocross track. But then we met one of Ford’s PR bosses, Sue, at that event,
Ford hosted yet another driving event for the public, this time at the Dubai Festival City over the weekend. This latest “Ford Factor” event featured the Explorer, the Edge, the Taurus, the Figo, the F-150 and the all-new Focus.
The Ford Focus is one of the best handling hatchbacks in the market. Combined with a 2.0-litre 4-cylinder Ford “EcoBoost” engine producing an impressive 247 hp and 360 Nm of torque and you get the production ready 5-door 2012 Focus ST. Oh, and to spice things up, it comes in a 6-speed manual transmission.
Ford is one of the leading global carmakers who were struck hard by recession, forcing them to exercise business process reengineering and adopt new business strategies. Consequently, the car manufacturer who used to produce nothing more than some fuel hogging, unreliable metal crap now manufacture cars that make the leading players sweat hard – that is the tale of the American Ford. The Blue Oval exists in the European region with an entirely different face, boasting a lineup with such commendable levels of quality and reliability that has always put the Americans in infinite envy. Except for the damage caused by the reputation of the products from American Ford,
Ford’s Conservation and Environmental Grants section yesterday awarded money to two projects from the UAE aimed at the preservation of UAE’s coral reefs and the fight against the illegal trade of animals in the region. Anyone who applies for these ‘green’ grants is eligible to have their project looked at by a panel of environmental experts. We also brought up the topic of electric cars.
Ford recently showed off its first-ever fully electric car, called the Ford Focus Electric. It is the first of five electric car models Ford plans to release by 2013 for the North American and European markets. The Focus Electric will be able for customers by the end of 2011.