Revised Ford Focus to Debut in Detroit

Ford needs a serious player in the small-car market. What it has now is the long-in-the-tooth Focus, which still sells well despite the company losing money on every sale due to costs.

We’ve just learned that at this year’s Detroit auto show, the company will unveil a new version of the current Focus. Rumor has it that besides the standard four-door Focus sedan, there might also be a coupe version. Both will borrow the razor-like grille treatment of the popular Fusion sedan and Edge crossover. There hasn’t been a Focus coupe since the nameplate debuted in 1999, only a two-door hatchback.

We don’t see a revised Focus helping Ford gain ground in the competitive compact market, but the automaker had to do something while it developed a successor. We just hope that Ford is indeed working on that successor and that the car it reveals in Detroit is better than we’re imagining.

[Ford to Unveil Revised Focus at Detroit Auto Show, SmartMoney.com]