Developing a replacement for the much-loved original Focus was an unenviable task, but Ford has successfully delivered. It's stylish, well equipped and is proving itself to be reliable. Plus while it's still as good to drive as ever, there's now more interior space and a genuine feeling of quality.

A mid-life facelift means that people who buy a Focus from January 2008 get an even better car. As well as a Mondeo look front end, the interior has been vastly upgraded with better materials and more attention to detail. Plus, for the first time, there's the option of buying an eco-friendly ECOnetic model.

The petrol engines range from a 1.4-litre to 2.0-litre unit. The 1.6-litre is available in two forms (100bhp and 115bhp) while there are three diesel units - a 1.6-litre, 1.8-litre and a 2.0 litre. The 1.6-litre TDCi with 110 bhp is the most popular - it pulls sweetly and has plenty of punch for effortless overtaking. All models come with a five-speed gearbox except the 2.0 TDCi, which is a six-speeder.

Changes to the engine line-up were minimal when the Focus was facelifted for 2008. Petrol engines remain the same (although the 115bhp version of the 1.6-litre was dropped), while the diesels were tweaked to deliver an average of under 120g/km CO2.

There is a green version available, badged ECOnetic, which is powered by the 1.6TDCi engine and thanks to aerodynamic changes, longer gearing and low resistance tyres emits just 115g/km of CO2 while averaging 66mpg. Ford has also introduced a 'dual-clutch' auto transmission on some diesel versions of the Focus. Called Powershift this offers the smoothness of a conventional automatic, with the responsiveness of a manual gearbox.

Ford are pinning hopes on this model in Europe to offset  the massive losses in the USA especially in the SUV market.

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