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Ford Re-Focuses

The 2008 Ford Focus

For a company that long seemed to have put all of its eggs in one basket (the F-150 pickup…okay, maybe two baskets—throw in the Explorer SUV), you’ve got to give credit to the Ford Motor Company for at least knowing when to say “uncle.”

All it took was two hurricanes that drove up gas prices high enough to make people take notice. Unfortunately, the automobile industry can’t shift manufacturing and design gears as quickly as the public can shift buying habits. So there was Ford, with parking lots full of thirsty pickups and SUVs, but not enough interesting product at the other end of the fuel economy scale. Its Focus line of sedans, hatchbacks and wagons was getting rather long in tooth, having been around without a major overhaul since its introduction in 1999.

So here we are, finally, with a totally redesigned 2008 Focus. Redesigned and repositioned in the marketplace, this time around everything is just the opposite (model-wise) from that first Focus introduced some eight years ago. In 1999 you had a choice of a two-door hatchback or a four-door wagon. Eventually came a four-door hatchback and a four-door sedan. This time around the model choices are limited to a two-door coupe and a four-door sedan, available in SE or SEL trim levels.

Euro Spec 2008 Focus

The first difference you’ll notice from the 2007 model is, obviously, the styling. Ford calls it a “muscular look.” I’ll go as far as saying it looks better than the 2007, and better than the Chevy Cobalt but not as good as the Mazda3. Ironic I should mention the Mazda3 here. As you may know, the Focus is one of Ford’s “world cars”; it’s also sold in Europe, Asia and other parts of the globe. However, the Focus we see here in North America is exclusive to this continent. Other parts of the world get a much more “muscular-looking” car based on the Mazda3 platform. International motor journalists who’ve driven the non-North American Focus positively drool over it. And it’s available in three- and five-door hatchbacks, four-door sedan, five-door estate (wagon) and C-MAX versions (which is kind of a larger, sportier wagon). On top of that, they get more trim levels and engine choices than you can swing a stick at, including diesel power (mandatory in countries where a liter of “petrol” can cost you almost an hour’s wage).

So what else in new for 2008? The interior hass been totally redone. I must say, though, that in their haste to make the dashboard’s center stack symmetrical, designers may have erred in making the audio and HVAC controls look the same. I’m sure it’ll tick off more than one owner. Other than that, it’s a pretty neat design. I especially like the white-on-black instruments. Models equipped with leather have contrasting stitching for, as Ford puts it, “…an added touch of craftsmanship.” Ford, as well as many other manufacturers these days, is stingy with the choices of interior colors: SE models come with a stone interior—like it or lump it. Moving up to the SEL gives you the added choice of charcoal black. They do, however, at least have contrasting dashboard colors, bits of chrome here and there, and there’s an available ambient lighting package which places tiny LEDs inside the cupholders and footwells, with seven colors from which to choose via a simple switch on the dash.

Power choices will be limited to a 2.0-liter I4 in two versions: the regular Durotec 20 and the 20E, which will qualify such-equipped cars as Partial Zero Emissions Vehicles. (Partial Zero Emissions…isn’t that kinda like “semi- boneless ham”? Either it’s got a bone or it doesn’t.)

Look for the new 2008 Focus to hit showrooms later this year. For more info, visit fordvehicles.com and ford.co.uk.