Auto News 5

One can argue that, regardless of Ford's "One Ford" globalized marketing campaign that only recently debuted, the brand's first global car for the new millennium was the 2000 Focus. It promised European-tuned driving dynamics in an attractive set of body styles, unfiltered, and it was sold in markets across the world. We were instantly smitten and named it our 2000 Automobile of the Year, writing that "Ford designers and engineers have scrapped all the old paradigms about what small cars ought to be." Developed under the watchful eye of Ford development chief Richard Parry-Jones, the Focus far surpassed the bar set by its predecessor, the Escort.