Friday, March 30, 2012
Kia Optima is a middle-sized sedan that is manufactured by one of the largest automotive manufacturers Kia Motors. The first generation of the car was launched in 2000 that has gained a horrible sales-statistics across the U.S. automotive market - just 97 Optima's were sold. But after the tons of advertisements, good marketing steps and the introduction of the car to the potential customers there was sold up to 26000 models. Starting from 2001, there has always been statistical growth of sales.
The new Ford Focus will mark the introduction of the first truly global product developed by the company's ONE Ford strategy. With plans for sales in over 120 markets worldwide the Focus ST has been designed on what Ford calls its "global C segment platform" with up to 80 percent parts-commonality globally. The platform will underpin at least ten vehicles globally and will account for about two million units produced annually by 2012.The technology behind the first electric Ford model, the C-MAX plug in hybrid will also be on display. Ford plans to manufacture the C-MAX in Valencia, Spain and expects a release date in 2012 for the European market. The C-MAX will be available in the U.S. shortly after the European release.
The current generation Ford Focus made its debut in 2008 to the European market, but only found its way to America in 2011. That follows Ford's decision in 2008 to invoke its "One Ford" policy whereby the company builds many of its models for all of its markets. The previous generation Ford Focus featured a distinctly American version as well as a European inspired global version. The former model failed to live up to the latter, but at least its sales were respectable.Ford's plans for the Focus ST should rest a number of rumors about its performance side, at least for now. Thought that a hyped up Fiesta model would surface can now be dismissed -- that vehicle would be too close to the Focus ST, causing much in-fighting among Ford products. That also means Ford isn't likely to purse a coupe version of its popular Fusion midsize sedan. Honda and Nissan continue to sell sedan and coupes in this segment, but Toyota has since abandoned the Camry Solara, choosing to focus on sedan and crossover versions instead.
The focus being the basic transportation that it was designed for is not a performance car or luxury car but rather a lightweight economy car. This being said the tires on the focus need not be performance or luxury tires so that means that if you are looking to put expensive tires on your car then you are wasting your money. In fact by installing anything more than a standard all season tire on a Focus you will not gain a thing. Don't be fooled into doing this as the focus does not require it.
So when searching for tires for your Focus you want to think what covers my needs? For most people that would be as mentioned, a basic all season tire and not to fancy. Sure you can spend the money for a Michelin if you really want to but to be honest there are other brands such as Dunlop, Sumitomo or even very basic such as Nexen that will do the trick. If you are running your Focus in the winter where there is snow and ice it is best to run separate winter tires for that purpose. With a decent set of snow tires on your focus the car will do very well being front wheel drive. For Winter tires I recommend either Cooper or Winterforce tires. Both are proven cost effective and do well in winter driving, not to mention that by running winter tires you are keeping the miles off your all season so in the end it all balances out.
So is this hybrid worth considering for those that may be interested in buying one of these? Most people are going to point out that the price tag at around $27,000 is coming in way below the other hybrid's that are out there, thus in this respect, the person should consider the Optima Hybrid. They are also going to find that the styling of the Optima Hybrid is very impressive and you are not going to be able to tell just from looking that you are indeed driving a hybrid car.
The new Ford Focus will mark the introduction of the first truly global product developed by the company's ONE Ford strategy. With plans for sales in over 120 markets worldwide the Focus ST has been designed on what Ford calls its "global C segment platform" with up to 80 percent parts-commonality globally. The platform will underpin at least ten vehicles globally and will account for about two million units produced annually by 2012.The technology behind the first electric Ford model, the C-MAX plug in hybrid will also be on display. Ford plans to manufacture the C-MAX in Valencia, Spain and expects a release date in 2012 for the European market. The C-MAX will be available in the U.S. shortly after the European release.
The current generation Ford Focus made its debut in 2008 to the European market, but only found its way to America in 2011. That follows Ford's decision in 2008 to invoke its "One Ford" policy whereby the company builds many of its models for all of its markets. The previous generation Ford Focus featured a distinctly American version as well as a European inspired global version. The former model failed to live up to the latter, but at least its sales were respectable.Ford's plans for the Focus ST should rest a number of rumors about its performance side, at least for now. Thought that a hyped up Fiesta model would surface can now be dismissed -- that vehicle would be too close to the Focus ST, causing much in-fighting among Ford products. That also means Ford isn't likely to purse a coupe version of its popular Fusion midsize sedan. Honda and Nissan continue to sell sedan and coupes in this segment, but Toyota has since abandoned the Camry Solara, choosing to focus on sedan and crossover versions instead.
The focus being the basic transportation that it was designed for is not a performance car or luxury car but rather a lightweight economy car. This being said the tires on the focus need not be performance or luxury tires so that means that if you are looking to put expensive tires on your car then you are wasting your money. In fact by installing anything more than a standard all season tire on a Focus you will not gain a thing. Don't be fooled into doing this as the focus does not require it.
So when searching for tires for your Focus you want to think what covers my needs? For most people that would be as mentioned, a basic all season tire and not to fancy. Sure you can spend the money for a Michelin if you really want to but to be honest there are other brands such as Dunlop, Sumitomo or even very basic such as Nexen that will do the trick. If you are running your Focus in the winter where there is snow and ice it is best to run separate winter tires for that purpose. With a decent set of snow tires on your focus the car will do very well being front wheel drive. For Winter tires I recommend either Cooper or Winterforce tires. Both are proven cost effective and do well in winter driving, not to mention that by running winter tires you are keeping the miles off your all season so in the end it all balances out.
So is this hybrid worth considering for those that may be interested in buying one of these? Most people are going to point out that the price tag at around $27,000 is coming in way below the other hybrid's that are out there, thus in this respect, the person should consider the Optima Hybrid. They are also going to find that the styling of the Optima Hybrid is very impressive and you are not going to be able to tell just from looking that you are indeed driving a hybrid car.
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Check out the latest reviews of Lexus LS460 and have a look at a cool collection of pictures of Ford Focus and Kia Optima on www.kiaoptima.org