Our Fleet: Ford Focus 1.6 TDCi - April 2012

For me as a driver, it is the little things that make all the difference, and in the Focus there is plenty to smile about.

From the sporty grille and the retro entertainment system, to the flashy automatic side mirrors and the advanced safety technology. The Focus oozes style and sophistication which, when you consider the price tag, puts it well ahead of most of its rivals.

The Focus is coming to the end of its stint here at Fleet News and it is with a heavy heart that I hand the keys back to our sister magazine, AM.

The team at Brentwood seemed to have spent a lot of time refining every button and defining each line on the Focus which certainly shows. Fleets will be hard to find a more complete company car than the Focus.

It seems that our awards judging panel agree with me, the Focus won Best Lower Medium Car at this year’s Fleet News Awards, with the judges praising the cars low running costs, safety innovations and attractive looks.

There are a few technology niggles discussed in previous reviews and the engine could do with a little more power but this hasn’t dampened my view. The Focus looks great, drives great and with the P11D price for our long termer under £20,000, the price is great too.

Keyless entry makes life easy and I have found the start-stop system to be more responsive than other cars I have tested recently, even despite the cold weather we had in February.

March registrations demonstrated the continued popularity of the Focus with it being the third most purchased car that month, beaten only by the Corsa and its sister car, the Fiesta.

And so the success story for the Focus and Ford continues, we wait with anticipation on what the future holds, but surely they cannot top the success of the latest model?

Can they?