Preview: 2008 Ford Focus cabrio facelift

The current Focus cabrio is one of the best looking cars in Ford’s international lineup and it’s one car we’re all hoping designers won’t change much for the 2008 model year facelift. For the updated version of the Focus hatch, revealed at September’s Frankfurt Motor Show, designers added a revised front-end with new ‘kinetic’ shaped headlights and bumpers but left most of the body untouched, and according to these latest renderings the same will happen for the cabrio facelift.

The gorgeous Pininfarina designed body remains while the car’s front end receives the same changes as the hatch. Up back will be new LED taillights and a different exhaust tailpipe design. The interior gets upgraded trim and a new center console with an engine starter button as well as several ancillary features including a 230V power outlet and audio jack.

New to the car will be Ford PowerShift dual-clutch transmission, which will be appearing in the hatch early next year. The new six-speed box was developed together by Ford and Getrag and will be available across the entire lineup.

Available engines include a 136hp (100kW) 2.0L Duratorq TDCi common rail turbodiesel, a 109hp (80kW) 1.6L TDCi and a Flexifuel version of the 1.8L Duratec petrol four-cylinder engine.

The Focus cabrio will remain a limited model, with only 20,000 cars expected to be sold in Europe annually. The first cars should in showrooms by the middle of next year, just in time for the northern summer.