As been confirmed by Ford Motor Co., the giant automobiles manufacturer has "improved" its Focus compact, making it safer and fuel efficient with features like those which are found on sports coupes from Porsche SE. The downside to this has been that the company would now have to convince consumers to pay more for a small-segment car.

The Focus is being unveiled today at the Detroit auto show, and is being looked upon as a pillar of Chief Executive Officer Alan Mulally’s very strong belief that American buyers would be more than happy to embrace small cars which feature facilities that are more commonly found in larger models like SUVs.

John Wolkonowicz, an analyst at IHS Global Insight in Lexington, Massachusetts, has stressed that expansion of the small-car coupe would mean that Ford would end up charging higher prices in order to earn sufficient returns from the kind of vehicles which are generally unprofitable.

"Ford will have to condition the American car buyer into thinking smaller is better, or this business model will not work. It’s a huge challenge", he said.

As confirmed by Ford, prices for the Focus will now start from $16,985.