For more than a decade, Honda Motor Co.'s Civic has been the vehicle of choice in the US among the small but dedicated group of young people who spend thousands of dollars to turn compact cars into hot rods. But since its launch last year, the Focus-a stylish small car from Ford Motor Co.-has increasingly become the group's must-have purchase.

Though hot rodders account for only a few thousand US car sales a year, auto makers are obsessed with winning their allegiance because of their role as arbiters of cool among drivers under the age of 30. That generation, numbering roughly 80 million, is by far the largest in US history and is likely to be the richest, wielding even more influence in consumer markets than their baby-boomer parents. Mr Bob Fesmire, Focus' marketing manager, says the Focus gears its whole marketing effort toward these "echo boomers".

As car buyers, most of this group haven't yet come of age. But those who have favour imports, a fact that has helped make the Civic the best-selling small car in the US and sent executives in Detroit scrambling for a response. Cars like the Chrysler Neon and the Chevrolet Cavalier have not done the trick, and several years ago, when Ford tried to make the stodgy Escort compact a youth car, it didn't get very far. But the Focus, Detroit's latest crack at dethroning the Civic, may be working.

Consider Mr Yingling. The Texas hot rodder says he has always had misgivings about the quality and durability of cars made by US manufacturers. He should have been easy prey for Honda earlier this year when he began shopping for a new car. But when he looked at Hondas, he found the Civic too pricey and a bit antiquated in styling, and decided to go with Ford.Back in 1997, Ford planners were searching for a way to turn the Focus, positioned as a family hauler in Europe, into a cult car. Then, Mr Al Kammerer, the Focus vehicle line director until late last year, met a neighbourhood hot rodder during a visit to his parents' home near San Jose, California. He says he immediately saw the value of having the Focus appeal to that man and his friends. "They are always tweaking their cars in the driveway and showing them off," he says. "They are an advertisement running up and down on the freeway."

Hot-rod enthusiasts generally customise their cars to project a race-car image, adding bold graphics and rear wings. But their modifications are not all for show. Typically, the first change hardcore hot rodders make is to add a set of oversized, high-performance tyres and wheels. Some also use suspension-tuning components to lower the car's chassis and improve handling.

But Ford faced a hurdle getting hot rodders interested in the Focus. Back then, most customisation parts were made for Hondas. To establish itself quickly, Ford selected a dozen aftermarket parts developers and gave them preproduction Focus cars, along with information and resources, to build a portfolio of aftermarket parts in time for the car's launch. It also recruited top drag-race drivers and offered them technical support when they raced in highly tuned Focus cars.

The strategy seems to have worked. Aftermarket parts makers say Hondas still rule the hot-rod market. But "the Focus is a radical departure" that combines performance and good looks, while the Civic's strength is its engineering, not styling, says Mr Oscar Jackson, proprietor of Jackson Racing, a Southern California supercharger maker.

Ford is also reaching its target group. So far, Ford says, 25 per cent of Focus buyers are 25 years old and under, and the median age for its buyers is 35.

But selling to young buyers is a tricky business. Many of them don't want to be told what's hip, or at least don't want to appear to be responding to a corporate marketing overture. The Focus marketing team has experimented with a multitude of buzz-making techniques, from live TV commercials and rap-inspired poetry on radio spots to special edition cars co-branded with other companies. Though Ford won't call any of them a failure, the company's marketers have already quietly phased out several of their techniques.

Aggressive pricing has also been key. The Focus costs about $2,000 less than a comparably equipped Civic. The Focus's gap is even greater with the Volkswagen Jetta, another car popular among buyers.

Honda officials insist they are't losing customers to Ford and note that the Civic continues to outsell the Focus, even though Honda doesn't sell cars to fleets the way Ford does. (Ford says those sales account for about 10 per cent of total Focus sales.)

"It's competition only in sales numbers; we don't sell to the same buyers," says Mr Tom Elliott, a senior executive at Honda's US sales arm in Torrance, California. Honda expects to sell 330,000 Civics this year, up from 318,000 last year, while Ford sees Focus sales of 300,000 this year, the car's first full year on the market.

Still, the Focus appears to be the first serious domestic challenge to the Civic in years. Take Ms Jeni Kent, a 20-year-old living in Maryland. Ms Kent recently bought a Sony-edition Focus for $16,000, having rejected a Civic.

"Everybody drives a Civic, and it just got boring," she says.Honda is just introducing a redesigned Civic for 2001, although the new model is more conservatively styled than the Focus. Honda says it isn't worried because young customers like Ms Hailey Choy, a college student in Ann Arbor, Michigan, who recently bought a 2001 Civic sedan, will continue to flock to the car. "The Focus didn't even enter my mind," says Ms Choy, 19. "I just don't see myself in a Ford." Honda says the Focus, with its edgier styling, is also vulnerable to being left behind because of the fickle tastes of young consumers. It reckons the Civic's "understated" and "classic" design can withstand the test of time better.

Honda isn't betting the farm on the Civic, though. Mr Elliott says Honda is developing a Generation Y car for the US market that will come out in a few years. Honda will show one of "three or four" such Generation Y car concepts at the Detroit auto show in January. "It will be edgier than the Focus," says a Honda official.

The Asian Wall Street Journal