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DETROIT -- After just eight months on the road, the Ford Focus coupe is undergoing a modest makeover for the 2009 model year.

Ford announced today that it is giving the Focus SE coupe a sportier appearance with changes to the front and rear fascia. The new, lower front fascia has a larger open area -- meant to evoke the European styling of the redesigned Ford Fiesta subcompact, which will arrive in the United States in 2010.

The high-end Focus SES model gets a new roofline spoiler and standard 17-inch aluminum wheels. Ford will tout the revamped 2009 coupe on Fox's "American Idol" TV show Wednesday, May 14.

The restyled and re-engineered Focus compact went on sale last fall as a 2008 model. The coupe was a new body style at that time.

While it's unusual for automakers to tweak exterior styling after less than a year, Ford said it is trying to make the Focus more attractive to young buyers.

"We've spent a lot of time talking with small-car customers and Focus enthusiasts," Sam De La Garza, Focus marketing manager, said in a statement. "Their overwhelming feedback was that a sportier exterior design could attract even more millennials, or those people born between 1980 and 1995 -- 11,000 of whom reach driving age every day in the U.S."

The 2009 Focus SE coupe will go on sale in August, starting at $16,615, including shipping. Pricing for the SES model will start at $18,035, including shipping.