Overview

Well, these are two pretty similar cars we have here! It's only details that could potentially make the difference. Considering they both belong to the small family car segment and utilize the same 5-door hatchback body style and the front wheel drive system, it all comes up to the specific diesel engine choice they offer. The first one has a Ford-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 115hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 4-cylinder, 8-valves 71hp engine designed by Peugeot.

Safety

A starting point here would be to take a look at the results from European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) tests which were performed on both of the cars, with the Ford being a slightly better choice apparently. Moving further on, let's take a closer look at some additional safety-related facts. Both vehicles belong to the small family car segment, which is generally classifying them somewhere in the middle safety-wise, but that fact doesn't break the tie between the two cars. Furthermore, if we'd like to consider vehicle mass in this context too, which we definitely should, the American car offers a considerable difference of 14% more metal.

Reliability

I don't like generalizing things when it comes to reliability, although it does seem that Ford does have a slight advantage, when all the models are taken into account. That's the official data, while our visitors describe reliability of Ford with an average rating of 4.4, and models under the Citroen badge with 4.1 out of 5. Independent research findings rank Focus 39% above average, and Xsara those same 39% below the first one. We should definitely mention that owners of cars with the same powertrain as the American car rank it on average as 4.4, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 3.1 out of 5.

Performance & Fuel economy

Ford is way more agile, reaching 100km/h in 5.1 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 196 kilometers per hour, 34km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy the winner has to be the American car, averaging around 5.4 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (52 mpg), in combined cycle. We can't ignore that 15% difference compared to the French car.

Verdict

Ford appears just a bit more reliable, although the difference is truly marginal. The most important thing when deciding between any two vehicles should always be safety, both passive and active. In my opinion, everything taken into account, the American car beats the other contender by far, making it the best choice without even considering other things. It all continues in the same direction, with Ford outracing its opponent in any situation possible, making it better choice for boy racers. To make things even better, it consumps less fuel! All together, there's not much more to say, in this case I wouldn't even consider anything but Ford. In any case that's my personal view, built upon all the data available to me. What should decide here though is the way you feel about the two vehicles, and I hope you'll find my guidelines useful in the process. I suggest you spend two more minutes in order to find out which car, based on your needs and budget, would be picked by the virtual adviser™, out of 12.000+ vehicles we currently have in our database.