It's no secret that American manufacturers have been playing catch-up to the Japanese and Europeans in the small car market over the last few decades. That said the Ford Focus originates from Ford's European division and comes to our shores virtually unchanged - unlike the Escort that preceded it. But even considering its European roots, is the Focus good enough to compete head-on with its European and Japanese competition? Let's see.

Inside, organic curves meld with industrial edginess for a tastefully artistic interior design. Function follows form with intuitive placement of controls. The power mirror toggle sits on the 'A' pillar while power window switches are canted to face the driver in a neat, tidy package, each button indented to accept the tip of the finger. Interior plastics are excellent for this class of car, as is fit and finish. Most impressive is the tactile quality of the switches. In particular the three dials comprising heating and ventilation function have rubberized knobs and click in precise increments.

Other convenient details include a rear wiper that is engaged by pulling the front wiper stalk backward, rather than the usual button placed haphazardly on the dash. Turn signal and wiper stalks feel and work similar to upscale European brands as well, while easy to understand universal pictographs are everywhere.

Incidentally, the Focus comes in three additional body styles. A sporty two-door hatchback, new 5-door hatchback and a 4-door sedan offer a variety of options. The most economically priced wagon is the $19,010 SE that comes with air-conditioning, remote keyless entry, power door locks, height adjustable driver's seat and an AM/FM CD player with theft deterrent and speed sensitive volume. The optional 6-disc dash-mounted CD player that came with my test car is laid out thoughtfully and delivers great sound. What's more, rather than the traditional security measure of removing the entire faceplate, a convenient pen-size relay pops out rendering the entire unit useless to would be thieves - clever. Other options of note are leather seating surfaces, a moonroof and the obligatory power windows and side mirrors. Optional safety features include ABS, traction control and side-impact airbags.

Focus seats are comfortable and offer excellent lateral support. The thick leather-wrapped steering wheel included on the test car is optional, and incorporates thumb indents in the best possible positions for performance driving - foreshadowing something more?

Fortunately yes. Ford's engineers delved beyond the skin, endowing the Focus with impressive handling. Its European derived suspension is taut but not harsh, making quick memory of tight back roads and winding bits of highway. On the open highway it feels stable even at high speed. This is partially due to its 0.32 coefficient of drag, the direct result of its wedge shape and high, flat station wagon rear that acts like a racing Kamm tail (the hatchback Cd is 0.36).

Likewise the optional 16-valve, 2.0-L Zetec 4-cylinder engine is always ready to rev, but its 130-hp only just reaches the fun factor in the upper rev ranges. That said the 110-hp 8-valve variant is even more biased toward fuel economy. A 5-speed manual transmission comes standard, with fairly smooth shifting capability attributed to low-friction needle-roller bearings and low-viscosity mineral oil to help improve fuel economy. A 4-speed automatic is also available.

While performance is fun, wagons are supposed to be about practicality. Once again the Focus doesn't disappoint. The word 'cavernous' doesn't go too far to describe its load carrying capabilities. The Focus Wagon's tall van-like interior can swallow up a fairly large piece of furniture, a couple of mountain bikes or a week's worth of laundry when the split rear seatbacks are folded flat.

What's not to like? Well, the placement of the passenger power window switch causes the need to move up and forward from the seatback to reach. That said it's a small irritation overshadowed by the cars other attributes.

After all my scrutinizing I have to say I'm impressed. The Ford Focus is superb, and probably the best small car to ever come from an American manufacturer. It's safe to declare that Ford has officially caught up in the small car war - and in many ways surpassed its competition!