These rendered images of the next-generation Ford Focus for the European market are, to put it bluntly, painful to look at. That's not because the artist penned a dog, but rather because he or she gives us a glimpse of Ford's next-gen Focus in the form of a three-door coupe, not unlike the coupe version of the redesigned 2008 Focus that Ford will be selling in the U.S. soon. Our Focus, however, is based on the same platform the original Focus used when it debuted back in Y2K, whereas the Euro Focus will be moving over from the already excellent C1 chassis, which our Focus never got, to a shortened version of the Eureopean Mondeo's platform. Plus, our Focus coupe will not look like a 3/4-scale Mondeo with snazzy Kinetic styling. Instead, the redesigned 2008 Focus for the U.S. takes a step backwards in styling, landing somewhere in the time of the Tempo and LTD. We're a little rusty with our Italian, so we're not even sure if Infomotori is claiming that Ford of Europe will offer a three-door coupe version of the next Focus or if these renderings are just fun. They're still painful to gaze upon, knowing what awaits an unsuspecting public at our own Blue Oval dealerships.

[Source: Infomotori - Google Translation]