Ford's Redesigned Focus Gets 40-mpg EPA Rating

Ford says its new Ford Focus with the SFE (Super Fuel Economy) package has been certified by the EPA at 40 mpg highway and 28 mpg city, Ford said today. The mileage rating applies to models with the six-speed automatic transmission.

Some competitors utilize a manual transmission to achieve their highest fuel economy ratings, though sales of vehicles with automatic transmissions account for more than 90 percent of the market, Ford noted.

The Focus becomes the fourth vehicle in the Ford Motor Company vehicle lineup with an EPA-certified rating of 40 mpg or more.

“Our customers tell us that fuel economy is the top reason for purchasing a Focus,” said Derrick Kuzak, group vice president, Global Product Development. “The all-new Focus meets that demand with great fuel economy, class-leading technologies and features, exceptional standards of craftsmanship and driving dynamics typically reserved for larger, more expensive vehicles.”

Ford said that with today's announcement, it has 12 vehicles including cars, utilities and crossovers in the U.S. that lead their sales segments for fuel economy – a number it said no other automaker matches.

With the new Focus, four 2011 models achieve at least 40 mpg – the Ford Fiesta SE with SFE package (40 mpg highway) and the Ford Fusion Hybrid and Lincoln MKZ Hybrid (41 mpg city).

Not wanting anyone to miss the obvious, Ford noted that the new Focus makes its debut “just as the Department of Energy is predicting higher gasoline prices at the pumps in the months ahead in part because of political unrest in Libya, a major oil exporter.”

The Focus is one of a number of new and redesigned small cars from Chevrolet, Hyundai and Honda that are promising higher fuel economy that previous models. Honda says its redesigned Civic HF will get 41 mpg in highway driving.

Here's how the Ford says the Focus SFE compares with current 2011 model year competitor products with automatic transmissions: