Andrew Hamilton is the first Irish journalist to test Ford's new mini-MPV, the Focus C-Max
Ford people have a nice diplomatic way of getting around the fact that they only now have a mini-MPV, a competitor to the Renault Scenic, Opel Zafira et al that have been scooping up the business for five years. The customers, they say, are just getting a little tired of awkward van-like shapes, there's a desire for more elegant car-like profiles and not everyone anyway wants a third row of seats.
Nice one, Henry, but we all know that the Zafira particularly caused a bit of a tizzy with the extra row of rather flimsy child-bearing seats.
For whatever reason, the discussion and argument went on for too long, and Ford was faced with the prospect of launching a product that would have been merely average by the standards of the first-generation and well-entrenched Scenics and Zafiras.
C-Max, then, which should have been around a year or so after the Focus launch in 1998, is only getting ready for the showrooms now. We should see it on Irish sale by late autumn. The versions we drove last week at Ford's Lommel proving ground in Belgium certainly eschewed the boxy van-like look that a third row demands. C-Max has the persona of a pure car, albeit with a hatchback configuration. If we had been shown the C-Max and told it was the new Focus, we might even have believed it. Of course, there are more than a few clues to the styling of a new-look Focus that will be presented at the Geneva motor show in 2004.
There is indeed quite a bit new about C-Max. For a start, it sits on a new platform, which will also underpin the forthcoming Mazda 3 as well as the Volvo S40 and V50 and of course, the mainstream Focus range. Ford think that this time their timing is right. The C-Max launch will more or less coincide with the new Scenic arrival as well as Volkswagen's new Golf-based Touran.
The Lommel test track with a stunning variety of tracks and road surfaces, showed the C-Max to be an accomplished performer, just like the 1998 sibling.
For comparative purposes, we also tried the Zafira, Touran and Citroën Picasso which were helpfully provided by Ford. C-Max gave the best handling entertainment and it was hard to believe that it's a vehicle majoring on practicality. . .
So what of C-Max's practicality? That's impressive with a centre seat that can be folded into the boot, allowing the remaining rear chairs to slide diagonally backwards and inwards, maximising leg and elbow space for two rear passengers. Alternatively all three can be taken out to fit long or awkward loads.
Ford's new midi-MPV has a wheelbase that is 25 mm longer than the current Focus. Compared with the new Scenic, it is 74 mm longer but not as tall. Ford claims a more sophisticated interior with a more aesthetic design and better quality materials.
Inevitably Ford's insistence on five seats has heightened the five-or-seven argument but there doesn't seem to be a clear cut answer in spite of vast research by the manufacturers.
They all agree that relatively few buyers need to carry seven on a regular basis. Renault puts it at no more than 20 per cent wanting seven seats but Ford, unsurprisingly, claims that no more than 8 per cent regularly carry more than two rear passengers.
It's a bit like rear seats in everyday cars, they are rarely used but most owners or buyers want to provide for the need, should it arise. Opel insists that that's why the Zafira has been such a success while VW in a similar vein is expecting a majority of buyers to fork out around €1,000 for an optional third row. Meanwhile, Renault which started off with five in the original Scenic, will now have both five and seven-seater versions of its new range.
Back to the heart of the C-Max and its engine line-up. It includes a new new 108bhp 1.6 litre diesel, a development of the existing 1.4TDCi. There's also a 134 bhp 2.0TDCi while the 120 bhp 1.8 petrol will be complemented by a new direct-injection 1.8 with 128 bhp that's going into a facelfited and revised Mondeo range. Our sojourn in Belgium also allowed us to test the Mondeo with visual changes that are discreet and subtle: more on that next week.
Ford's bigger news, however, is C-Max. Catching up on the competition was hard to do but now it is beckoning, a midi-MPV with alluring looks and driving panache.