By looking towards brand unity, the redesigned Ford Focus is sure to be a winner for Ford, just as its previous generations have been.

The biggest plus point of the new look is in its European design. For years and years, Fords from Europe, specifically the Focus, Fiesta, Mondeo, and S-Max, have been way more pleasant to look at than their American counterparts. The European designed Fords have also won more praise across the board for their looks when compared to the American designs that tend to be more love/hate for the consumer.

The design for the new Focus borrows heavily from recent Fords, which may be viewed as an uninspired and unoriginal move by some, is an exceptionally smart move by Ford. There are very visible cues lifted by the 2011 Focus from the iosis Concept, Mondeo, European Focus RS, and Fiesta.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it a million times again: I love when a car looks like its angry at the world around it. The new Focus does this extremely well with its headlights, front bumper, and broad shoulders.

The front bumper is very much inspired by the iosis concept with an extremely similar shape for the air intake on the bumper. The iosis also served as inspiration for the Ford Mondeo that has been rolling around Europe for the last three years.

The Focus’s headlights are a new design but the lines showcase Ford’s recent design language. The taillights follow this philosophy as well.

The character line and shoulders are also brand new. They are, for me at least, the defining design features of this car. The lines not only make the Focus appear fast, but strong at the same time.  They work extremely well with the indent towards the bottom of the doors to give that sense of speed.

With all of the design features that Ford borrowed from other great designs in its line up, it was extremely surprising to see the new Focus not just be a mini-Mondeo. Rather, Ford has designed a car that is unparalleled in style and beauty not only by its American rivals, but also by car companies worldwide.

theCD's Take: Ford's recent decision to bring European designs to America has been one of their best to date.