If produced at Wayne, the Euro-spec Focus would sell for a base price around $17k, about $3k more than the current car. The investment to bring the Euro Focus here (emissions, crash, powertrains, tooling) was similar to a significant refresh of the old model. It's not as easy as "pick it up and sell it here," and Ford had no plans to make such a move when initially developing the C1 Focus in Europe.

It's a catch-22 really. Ford doesn't offer a really stellar small car, but even if it did, Ford doesn't have the brand strength to sell it at the price they would have to, because people wouldn't believe they have a really stellar small car - seeded by years of Ford not having a really stellar small car.

Detroit knows that people will buy small cars. Don't kid yourself. The Ford Verve due out in 2009 and next gen Focus due here in 2010 will be significant if not class-leading players. The problem in the short-term is dealing with their higher fixed costs (soon to be reduced) and trailing perception that demands low pricing strength (high costs, low revenues) and the lack of integrated global development programs that could have mitigated some of the cost side by de-contenting to U.S. standards without losing the character of the original vehicle or requiring expensive rework.

So, we have the 2008 Focus. From a design perspective, it has few good angles. However, behind the wheel, I found it very quiet and a good drive - on par with the Civic overall except with much better handling dynamics. The platform actually received a bit of an overall, so while it technically trails the EU by 1 gen and a refresh, the fundamentals are much better than the last Focus I rented (2006, maybe) and close to (although never really at) the Mazda's level.

Unfortunately, many people cannot get past its gimmicky styling - and neither can I. It is the car's primary weakness. Almost everything else, however, is on par or ahead of the class if you actually give it 30 seconds to show you. Personally, though, I'll wait for the C2 in 2010.