Ladies and gentlemen, focus your attention on the all new Ford Focus! Ford took the wraps off its brand-new 2011 Focus at the Detroit auto show, displaying the sedan and hatchback variants. The Fiesta's new big brother is quite possibly one of the most important Fords of the past few decades as it will be a truly global car. The new Focus has been re-designed from scratch to suit all international markets.

The new 2010 Focus sedan and five-door hatchback represent the third and fourth body styles of the new global C-platform from Ford, with the European C-Max and Grand C-Max debuted last September at the Frankfurt Motor Show. The new Focus represents the second generation kinetic design from Ford, incorporating a large trapezoidal lower grille, bold wheel arches and a prominent character line running from the front wheel back to the rear quarter. The side profile of the sedan looked muscular to me but I find the tail lamp clusters kind of overdone, or even fussy. The sedan is slightly lower than the outgoing model while the length, interior volume and weight remain similar to it's predecessor.

Like other new Fords, the next generation Focus will benefit from an electric power assist system (EPAS) for its steering, which helps to reduce fuel consumption by cutting parasitic losses. Steering precision is said to be improved as well. Dynamic Cornering Control will also be available for the front-wheel-drive Focus, which should help provide even better handling balance with less understeer.

The new focus will be propelled by a new 2.0-liter direct-injection four-cylinder engine, which will also form the basis of the upcoming 2.0-liter EcoBoost. It produces about 155bhp and benefits from variable phasing cam technology. Ford hinted that a 1.6L EcoBoost powerplant could be offered as an option in the future as well. All automatic versions of the Focus shall be equipped with the 6 speed Powershift dual clutch gearbox.

The dashboard has a futuristic layout with a large information display panel right at the centre. Let's hope that this display panel will not be replaced by an empty storage area when it comes to Singapore. The air-con vents resemble those found in the new Sonata. The gearstick look kind of tall on the photo but let's hope that its due to the angle of the camera man.

As we begin 2010, it looks like the compact C-segment is shaping up to be one of the most highly competitive segments in the auto industry with the Civic, Corolla, Jetta, Cruze and the new Focus fighting for the consumer's cheque book :)