The highly anticipated and long awaited new Ford Focus has finally made its world debut at the 2010 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit. One of the most important things about the new Ford Focus is the fact that it will be nearly identical in all markets sharing 80% of its parts around the world. The new generation Ford Focus has been publicly presented in Detroit in both five door hatchback and four door sedan versions, as the two will have the same styling cues that mark a new era of design patterns for the North American automaker.

Just like the new Ford Fiesta and the European Ford Mondeo, the new Ford Focus has a more dynamic and crispier design. To be honest, I think that the new generation Ford Focus is a huge step forward in comparison to the former generation. Sure, the car is not perfect in terms of design. I think that the tail lights are quite ugly and the front of the car could have been designed a little more aggressive, sportier, but in comparison to the previous generation, the new Ford Focus is definitely a significant step forward in terms of design.

According to the North American automaker, one of the key elements of the interior of the new Ford Focus is the quality of craftsmanship with the soft touch materials and the choice of trim. All these contribute to give the passengers ``the feeling that they are travelling in a higher class car``.

The powertrain development has taken place at the technical center of Ford in Dunton, England while the European small and medium vehicle centre in Merkenich, near Cologne, Germany owned by Ford has led the general development of the new Ford Focus.

The North American automaker has also said that the handling of the new Ford Focus combines ``outstanding steering precision and road feedback with significantly improved refinement and ride control``. The 2011 Ford Focus will get its power from a range of new EcoBoost engines, with capacities varying from 1.6 liters to 2.0 liters that are turbocharged. The Duratorq TDCi common rail diesel engine will offer reduced fuel consumption by between 10% and 20% in comparison to the current engines. The powertrain of the Ford Focus will be completed by a choice of a manual gearbox or a new dual clutch PowerShift six speed automatic transmission as well as a front wheel drive system.

In the next couple of year the Ford Focus range will get new versions, including a coupe convertible version, a three door hatchback version as well as a station wagon. Still, it is yet unclear whether these versions will be available on all the markets.

The initial production of the new Ford Focus will commence in Saarlouis (Germany), Chongqing (China) and Michigan (United States), at the assembly plants owned by Ford. The production will start simultaneously in North American and Europe towards the end of this year while the sales will start in 2011.

It will be very interesting to see how well will the new Ford Focus received by the market, considering it will compete against some very popular cars, like the Honda Civic, the Volkswagen Golf, the Toyota Corolla or the Chevrolet Cruze.