Detroit's comeback cars

Bringing cars like the European Focus and the Fiesta here also serves another purpose for Ford. It saves money by finally allowing the automaker to design and build the same cars for the U.S. and overseas. Right now, most Americans wouldn't recognize a European Ford because the cars we have here are completely different.

This convergence is no easy matter, though. For one thing, safety and emissions regulations are different in ways that sometimes require substantial changes.

And European and American car buyers have long had stubbornly differing tastes. That's something Ford executives think is changing as Americans are becoming more concerned with fuel economy.

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