Ford C2: the architecture done better

We frequently bemoan the fact that ubiquity in some modern architectures results in cars that are ‘samey’ to drive, not simply across multiple models but also multiple models from multiple brands.

It’s perhaps best illustrated in a succession of Volkswagen Group SUVs, which struggle for their own identity much more than hatchbacks and other models spun off the same MQB platform, the architecture that took platform sharing to the next level.

But the flip side is when a common architecture is so well executed that it breeds a whole range of models that star for its maker.

This could soon be the case for Ford and its new Ford Focus, the first recipient of Ford’s new C2 platform and our latest road test subject.

The quality of the execution of the new C2-based Focus, which makes as significant a statement as the 1998 original as a driver’s car, offers a tantalising glimpse of just how good future C2-based Fords can be.

The company has perhaps lost its way a touch over the past decade, being slow to react to market trends and banking on the rise of the global car.

But now with the C2, the architecture that’s just done better, we could be about to embark on another golden era for driver’s cars from Ford. In a world where so many cars are offering broadly similar driving experiences, a company that really puts driver appeal at the centre of everything it does is something to celebrate.

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Mark Tisshaw

Title: Editor

Mark is a journalist with more than a decade of top-level experience in the automotive industry. He first joined Autocar in 2009, having previously worked in local newspapers. He has held several roles at Autocar, including news editor, deputy editor, digital editor and his current position of editor, one he has held since 2017.

From this position he oversees all of Autocar’s content across the print magazine, autocar.co.uk website, social media, video, and podcast channels, as well as our recent launch, Autocar Business. Mark regularly interviews the very top global executives in the automotive industry, telling their stories and holding them to account, meeting them at shows and events around the world.

Mark is a Car of the Year juror, a prestigious annual award that Autocar is one of the main sponsors of. He has made media appearances on the likes of the BBC, and contributed to titles including What Car?, Move Electric and Pistonheads, and has written a column for The Sun.