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Take the Citroen C4, Vauxhall Astra Panoramic and the new Ford Focus and what have you got? Three of the biggest stars of this week's Paris Motor Show. The French firm knows its Xsara has, over the years, lost its looks (if it had any in the first place), and so has taken several brave steps forward by designing a replacement that's deliciously unconventional. It doesn't really matter if the C4 floats your boat or not. The point is - whether you like it or loathe it - Citroen must be given credit for daring to be different, making a bold statement and moving the game on.

Auto Express Car Reviews

21st September 2004

The same can be said of Vauxhall's Astra. It's nothing like its predecessor, and I'd go as far as saying it's as visually appealing as anything else out there - BMW and Audi hatches included. But not content with that, Vauxhall has introduced its Panoramic windscreen in time for Paris. I know some readers have concerns about possible insurance problems (see letter of the week, opposite), but for ΂£1,000, the driver and front-seat passengers get a huge, unique, curvaceous and airy glass expanse from the edge of the bonnet over their heads and into the roof. In the nicest possible way, it's abnormal.

Which is why I can't understand Ford's strategy with its latest Focus. True, the inside has changed for the better. But the exterior design has gone backwards. To my mind the firm had three choices: 1. Take the safe route and introduce improvements, tweaks and reworkings, but essentially allow the incoming Focus to look like the still handsome outgoing version (in the same way Porsche has done with the Boxster). 2. Adopt a more exciting, risky strategy by axing the current car in favour of a mould-breaking new one (as Citroen did with the Xsara-replacing C4). 3. Do the unthinkable and produce a new Focus that doesn't look as good as the old one. In short, press the self-destruct button.

Amazingly, I think Ford has chosen the third option. I know the external appearance of a motor car isn't everything. Driving experience, reliability, build quality, value for money, depreciation, interior design, safety, servicing, repair and insurance costs plus fuel economy are also of major importance.

But what astounds me is that Ford has seemingly got it absolutely right in all those difficult areas, but screwed up with the overall styling. I speak as somebody who last week drove the new Focus to an English seaside resort, parked it up on the esplanade behind an old model and asked passers-by which of the two was more appealing to the eye. The old shape won.

If, like me, you're not convinced by the look of the new Ford before it's even gone on sale, imagine how unimpressed we're going to be with it over the next few years, as that's how long it will be around. It's close to being the ugly duckling of the small family hatchback bunch already. So where's it likely to end up by, say, 2009, when fierce competition from ever-improving rivals will embarrass the physical appearance of the Focus still further? It's a great car, but it's a shame - a real shame - how it looks.