Spied! Ford Focus Caught Completely Undisguised in Portugal

When Ford introduced the 2012 Focus, it was a big deal. For the first time in years, the U.S. got the same great compact car that Europe did. Seven years later, however, the Focus we were so excited to drive is now best described as “long in the tooth.” Thankfully, a redesigned version is on its way, and based on this spy shot, it’ll be a real looker.

According to a Google translation of Hungary’s Vezess, the above photo was taken by a reader in Portugal who appears to have caught Ford shooting a commercial or promo for the new Focus. It also sounds like the workers were less than thrilled to see him. “Hi, I think I saw the new Ford Focus in Cascais,” the reader wrote in an email to Vezess. “I was not able to observe more because they were chasing me. The woman in the middle yells not to take a picture.” But take a picture he did.

Compared to the current Focus, the car we see here has a much more premium, mature look that matches previous reports that the Focus would move upmarket. We see a little bit of Mazda3 in the flared fenders and sloping roof, but from this angle, the headlights have more of a Volvo or Kia Cadenza vibe. Overall, though, we like the look, especially in this color.

Interestingly, the car appears to have been debadged, but the body lines do match previous Focus prototype spy shots that we’ve seen. If you look closely at the wheels, it also looks like a Ford logo has been covered up.

With the Focus clearly production-ready, a Geneva Motor Show debut would make sense. But based on what we’ve heard, Ford actually plans to skip Geneva and reveal the new Focus in April. Sadly, if Ford handles the Focus reveal like it did with the new Fiesta, we may have to wait on U.S. specs. If so, let’s hope the Focus ST doesn’t suffer the same fate as the Fiesta ST.

Source: Vezess

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