GENEVA - The Ford Focus could have been called Jazz, Fusion, or Icon with a C or K.
These were all among the choices Ford sifted through while choosing the name, said Ian McAllister, who heads Ford of Britain.
The Focus, which will ultimately replace the Escort, doesn't go on sale until October, but Ford didn't want its chief rival, the new Astra, to steal the Geneva show. Ford built a new stand that required sawing through the exhibition center's walls.
The Focus will be 40 percent of Ford volume in Europe and worldwide production will reach one million units, compared with about 850,000 cars today, said Jac Nasser, president of Ford Automotive Operations.
Nasser would not say how much Ford spent, but he said Ford will save more than $1,000 per car compared with the Escort.
