Comments on: why are the American and British Ford cars different?

By: Nino

Nino — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 08:50:59 +0000

who cares
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By: L205

L205 — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 08:21:59 +0000

They are different for several reasons:

The type of roads and length of journeys.
The price of fuel.
The equipment that people want in their car.
Differing laws with respect to equipment and emissions.

Ford have recently launched the new Fiesta in America (they took 100 models over for research) but they are all 1.6 petrol, when the best selling engine in the UK is the 1.25. The new Focus will be the same in both countries according to Ford’s press releases.
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By: Dale

Dale — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 07:56:59 +0000

If you look at the UK’s most popular Ford, it has to be the Focus. Mid sized, practical, safe, affordable and economic. This basically ticks all the of boxes for what the British generally value in a car.

The American’s most popular Ford is either the F150 Pickup Truck or the Mustang. Large, stylish and with a great heritage for growling V8 engines and presence. America has the Focus too but it is nowhere near as up to date as ours since their values are not the same.

Americans who want the ‘British’ values tend to go for Chryslers and Dodges as Ford tends to have a muscular appearance in the US.

Generally cars in America have 2.0l or 3.0l V6 engines which are easy to drive (considering they’re mostly automatic) and cruise nicely at 65MPH, ours need to negotiate more challenging corners and hills so need to be more lively at slower speed hence all the 1.6s and diesels.

I hope this answers your question!
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By: Harley Drive

Harley Drive — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 07:42:59 +0000

america is way more spread out than the UK so car specs which work here don’t in the US, their roads are very potholed so cars need to have a longer wheel base and bigger wheels to give a smooth ride, that means bigger bodies and higher gears which effectively means a different car
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By: Arlanymor

Arlanymor — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 07:03:59 +0000

The American Fords are bigger in order to carry their inflated ego’s
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By: furious S

furious S — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 06:38:59 +0000

Simple - European requirements - on safety, roads, and fuel consumption.

Also - they drive on the right - the UK don’t
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By: HodgPodg

HodgPodg — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 06:33:59 +0000

The regulations are very different. In America Fuel efficiency, style and performance are being sacrificed to meet strict government standards. Europe cares more about fuel efficiency so they didn’t put in the safety standards that add weight, or the emission controls that add weight and resistance.
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