Ford rules out building a new Ford Focus RS

Finally, there will be no new Ford Focus RS for the current generation

Our colleagues at the French outlet Caradisiac argue, citing internal sources at Ford, that the worst of our suspicions will be confirmed.

In this way, those of us who expected the arrival this year or, at the latest, 2021, would have had in dealerships the most radical version of the Ford Focus that began its journey in 2018, and we will be left wanting to see a new generation that would add a new member to a legendary saga like the Ford Focus RS.

The reason why Ford has decided to shelve the Ford Focus RS project is the restriction to 95 grams of carbon dioxide emitted per kilometre driven.

An amount that a car with the 2.3 EcoBoost engine and close to 400 CV, no matter how much additional hybridisation system it incorporated, would exceed this maximum CO2 ceiling that will become the benchmark in 2021.

Taking the 2016 variant as a reference, which will be the last Ford Focus RS on sale, recorded carbon dioxide emissions of 175 grams per kilometre, measured under the now-defunct NEDC homologation cycle.

Rumours pointed to a 2021 Ford Focus RS with a mechanical layout and an electric support system that would boost the 350 CV of the previous

Ford Focus ST, the most powerful in the range

So, the petrol version of the Ford Focus ST will be the most powerful still available in dealerships, at least until 2021.

The one that delivers 280 CV from the also turbocharged 2.3-litre EcoBoost engine, but whose output is directed exclusively to the front axle rather than to an all-wheel-drive system as in previous generations, cannot rest easy either.

This car could also suffer the ravages of European anti-pollution guidelines because, for the petrol engine, although it meets the Euro 6 standard, it is homologated, however, under the WLTP cycle, at 187 grams of CO2 per kilometre driven.

This means that, possibly, the most powerful Ford sold will be the Ford Mustang Mach-E.

Brands don’t live on enthusiasts alone

The international context, the health, social and economic situation centred on the current COVID-19 pandemic, could be the final blow to the Ford Focus RS project.

The reactivation of a market that, at least during the coming months, is going through a severe crisis from which recovery will be difficult, is not the best context for the presentation and marketing of vehicles that enthusiasts await for every new flagship model but which, in terms of sales volume, usually represent a marginal minority of the total cars sold.

That said, we also can’t rule out that, later on, with a Ford Focus facelift, the brand might go all in and keep the project dormant until it achieves a technology capable of reducing the permitted amount of CO2 emitted.

Technical specifications of this car

HatchbackFord Focus19 versions · from 31,034 €