The New Ford Focus

Ford's design direction has been rather interesting of late. The tail lights that appear on their S-Max, Galaxy and new Mondeo are strikingly similar to those of the (achingly beautiful) new Maserati GT. The face of the new Mondeo is imposing and beautiful without being brash or tacky. In fact, to my eyes it is now a significantly better looking car than many of it's prestige competitors. The rump of the car is a little too large and the alloy wheels that they have favoured for their demonstrators (stolen from the Focus ST and a little too similar to those worn by various Vauxhalls) are much too fussy (and small) to do the car any favours but these are tiny details that cannot ruin such a fundamentally good design. Ford have made a bit of a faux pas, however, in the new Focus.

I'm sure that almost everyone remembers the impact that the original Focus made when it was launched. This was probably heightened by the contrast between it and the very old and rather lack-lustre Escort it replaced (bear in mind that the final MKVI Escort was a direct evolution of the much maligned MKV, first realeased in 1990). Unfortunately the car that wowed the world was replaced in 2004 by the rather bland MKII Focus. In some respects the latter vehicle was an improvement, but in others it was a very definite step in the wrong direction. To my mind the biggest problem with the latest Focus is it's incredibly bland styling. Ford clearly believe that this was a mistake since they have already revealed a significantly face-lifted model only three years into the product's life-cycle.

According to Ford's marketing people every external panel apart from the roof of the revised Focus has been replaced. This has resulted in a slightly different tail-gate, smoother and more dynamic looking sides that have lost their rubbing strips and gained a purposeful crease running from the front wing to the rear and a wholly new front end that quite deliberately and successfully apes the new Mondeo. Unfortunately, however, the basic shape of the car has remained the same. Even worse, the revisions to the rear are minimal and completely out of tune with the new front end (much the same as with the Vectra when it was last face-lifted). The resulting car may well be pretty when viewed from the front, but from every other angle it looks wrong.

The interior of the car stays true to the same story. The centre console and the instrument panel have been revised but the rest remains the same. This means that to anyone who is familiar with the current Focus the revisions look like an afterthought rather than a thorough reworking of a car that desperately needs it. Worst of all Ford have put a starter button beside the handbrake in what must be one of the most counter-intuitive positions possible. Whilst keyless entry and a keyless ignition do have undoubted benefits it's pitiful that Ford have felt the need to shove it into the revised car without thinking it through properly.

I hope that the next generation of the Focus is better than this half-hearted restyle. It needs to be if Ford is to turn things around and it would be a great shame to see them be anything less than the best as they were for a short time of late.