Ford Focus: New model is competitive, but not class-leading

It was more than 20 years ago that this British favourite was first released, and now there’s a new model in town. But will it live up to its original popularity?

They’ve doubled down on the Aston Martin-style grille, they’ve added Mazda-like curves at the front and there’s more than a hint of BMW 1 Series around the profile (Photography by Ford)

I don’t mean to sound like the Beatles song (would that I possessed a fraction of their originality), but was it really 20 years ago today that the first of the first-generation Ford Focus went on sale? Well, nearly, I mean give a couple of months or so, but near enough, eh?

In the past couple of decades Ford has shifted some 16 million of them. Seeing as so many other cultural phenomena from the 1990s are making a comeback – Spice Girls, John Major, mad cow disease, Twin Peaks – why not welcome the fourth generation of the Ford Focus, this family favourite which, at least in Britain, still leads the competition in this important market sector.

Well, I can think of a few objections, in fact, but first the good bits: because some are very good bits indeed.

The new Focus actually looks pretty and pretty cool (Ford)

Looks, for starters. The first-gen Focus, if you recall, had refreshingly clean, sharp, styling, a collection of intersecting oblique arcs and swishes that Ford termed “new edge”. It created “surface tension by adding creases to soft aerodynamic shapes”. It was distinctive and original, and was also featured to excellent effect on the Ford Ka and Ford Puma. Well, that’s all gone now and the latest Focus is a barely recognisable descendant. Today’s Focus has a much more involved look, more highly styled machine. It actually works very well.

For the face, they’ve doubled down on the Aston Martin-style grille, they’ve added Mazda-like curves at the front and there’s more than a hint of BMW 1 Series around the profile. At the back they’ve tried to give it a more premium look by pulling the rear lights into the hatch boot, and picking the nameplate out in individual letters. It looks like a copy of an Audi.

With the ST-Line trim – the body kit but not the ST model’s all-out performance – the new Focus actually looks pretty and pretty cool. My test car was finished in a solid red which gave it certain raciness, albeit partly bogus. The graphite alloys were also beautifully styled and finished, and unusually tasteful. Ford hasn’t lost its instinct for following fashion, even if this Focus doesn’t set any new trends.

The Skoda Octavia is more of an option if you like to use your boot as a storage room (Ford)

Indoors, things are a little less happy. My test car would cost around £25,000, and for that money it boasts all of the features a driver might reasonably expect. I appreciated especially the way that nearly all the controls were accessible on the steering wheel and within reach of the wriggle of a thumb.

The obligatory screen for the satnav, audio and so on sits up on the dash like an iPad was embedded in there, and has an easily workable touch screen. The menus for the admittedly vast range of DAB radio stations are as confusing as they are on any other modern car. Something about “ensembles”? I’d need someone to come and sort that out for us.

The spec

Ford Focus ST-Line 1.5 TDCI

Price: £24,600 
Engine: 1.5-litre; 3-cylinder, 6-speed manual
Power output (PS): 120
Top speed (mph): 122
0 to 60mph (secs): 10
Fuel economy (mpg): 80.7​
CO2 emissions (g/km): 94 

With interior trim materials, well the range of mostly plastic finishes, they’ve have done OK. They’re not offensive-looking or brittle or feel cheap. Even the faux stitched leather interior door cars looked convincing. It’s just that it’s not really special enough for the occupants. It’s a bit “hire car” and generic if you see what I mean. The earlier Focus, the one from 1998, tried a bit harder though they went ridiculously overboard with making everything oval shaped, as a misguided homage to the traditional Ford logo. Still and all, they tried.

Now that Mercedes Benz have their new A-Class and there are fresh BMW 1 Series and Volvo V40 models imminent, among others, Ford really needs to raise its game.

Ford has aimed for a more premium look by pulling the rear lights into the hatch boot (Ford)

The Focus is mostly pleasant and responsive to drive, with a willing engine (mine was the lower powered of the two 1.5 litre petrol options) and a smooth manual gear change – a longstanding Ford virtue.

Trouble is, this trendy three cylinder unit really needs to be revved to move things along, and you still need to stir the use the gearbox rather more than you should have to. The small capacity equates to little torque, or low-down pulling power; so you can’t just leave it in third and forget about it. Great things are claimed for the fuel economy of these modern small capacity turbocharged units – and they do deliver – but I remain sceptical about their long-term durability. Plus, as I say, they’re more effort to pilot.

For pure comfort I’d say the now aged Peugeot 308 is a better bet than the new Ford, with a nicer cabin too. Otherwise the Focus doesn’t seem to me to be such a great leap forward either from the old model or some of its principal competition, such as the VW Golf.

The Skoda Octavia as usual is the option if you like to use your boot as a storage room. Otherwise the Focus has to face the tsunami of medium-sized SUVs that are pushing the traditional hatches out of the way – including the in-house Kuga as well as capable rivals such as the Nissan Qashqai, Seat Ateca and Kia Sportage.

So this Ford runs true to recent form: competitive but not necessarily groundbreaking or class-leading. It will sell well, and, come to think of it, help complete a half-century of Ford dominance in the British new car market (though rather less in recent years).

Before Focus there was the Escort, which had had a 30-year run behind it, often at the top of the sale charts, and, by the way, gilded Ford’s reception with its low running costs and rallying successes. The Focus replaced it just when the Escort concept was looking a little tired. The latest Focus suggests the nameplate has some more life in it, but I wonder how much. Ford needs a new edge.