Originally Posted By: antiqueshell
Originally Posted By: LT4 Vette
Looks great. The Focus hatchback looks European designed.
Essentially this is the Ford of Germany product that the RoW has always received. In the USA we received the MKI Focus which also was a Ford of Germany product with minor changes to meet DOT regs.
There was also a Ford of Europe MKII which the RoW also received and was a totally new product from the ground up, the US MKII was nothing more than a heavily face lifted and and refreshed MKI. Which was a shame because the MK II from Europe was a very nice mix of nimbleness of the original car with some more refinement designed in...The current MKIII is the same version offered around the world, and here in the USA all Ford did was make the changes needed to meet DOT.
Personally I think the latest Focus is a bit too large. My favorite is the Fiesta ST. It really is the modern version of the MKI and MKII VW Golf GTI, but the Fiesta competes with cars like the Renault Clio, Peugeot 208, Opel Corsa, ect. The Renualt Clio
is probably one of the best subcompact cars in the world right now. Sad that we can't get it in the USA.
Interesting that you think it's too big, as it's actually one of the smaller in the segment. The wheelbase is shorter than the others, which is why the rear seat legroom isn't nearly as good as it is on some of the others.