Ford will officially debut its new Focus at the Paris motor show at the end of this month. A Focus saloon ‘concept’ was shown at the Beijing Auto Show in June but Paris will see the official unveiling of the entire model line-up.

The three-door, five-door and estate versions will all be on show as Ford looks to repeat the success of the current Focus. It has sold almost 92,000 units in the UK so far this year and has been Britain’s best-seller of the past six years.

Using the same platform as the Mazda3 and the Volvo S40 it is 168mm longer than the model it replaces. The longer wheelbase will mean increased cabin and boot space. Interior styling follows on from the Focus C-Max, with quality plastics and a much improved centre console.

Two diesel engines will be available, the 107bhp 1.6-litre and the 134bhp 2.0-litre TDCi units used in the C-Max. The 1.4-litre, 1.6-litre and 2.0-litre Duratec petrol units from the current Focus will be carried over along with a new 113bhp 1.6-litre Ti-VCT (twin independent variable camshaft technology) unit which gives greater power output combined with increased fuel economy.

It will reach UK showrooms in January 2005 with a choice of CL, LX, Zetec, Ghia and the flagship Titanium variants.

Prices are expected to start at just under £12,000 for base models with the higher specs around £16,000. A performance ST version will also be added to the range at a later date.