The Next Ford Focus RS Has Reportedly Been Cancelled

Due to tighter than ever emissions restrictions and cost concerns, the word is Ford won't make another Focus RS

16 Apr 2020

The Next Ford Focus RS Has Reportedly Been Cancelled

Fast cars are a big deal for Ford. The fantastically shouty Mustang GT500 arrived not long ago, and it looks like a Mach 1 ‘Stang is on the way too. The ST range is sitting pretty with hopped-up versions of the Fiesta and Focus, which will soon be joined by a fast Puma.

In this environment, you’d think that a new version of Focus RS would be all but inevitable. After all, Ford has made one for each of the Focus’ previous generations. However, it’s now looking like the highly anticipated MkIV Focus RS is dead in the water.

Citing a source within Ford, French publication Caradisiac reports that there won’t be a new Focus RS. There are two main factors, the first being emissions - with fleet average CO2 figures needing to be down to 95g/km by 2021 in Europe, a new RS isn’t the most helpful kind of car to have in the stable.

Secondly, there’s the matter of money. Ford was drastically cutting costs across the board even before Covid-19 started giving the industry a kicking, with billions of dollars of savings targeted via job losses, factory closures and joint ventures like the Blue Oval’s partnership with VW. In that environment, it’s hard to justify a high-cost, low-return project like an RS.

The ST is set to remain the fastest version of the current Ford Focus

It had been previously suggested that the gen four RS would go hybrid to make it more viable from an emissions standpoint, but given that this would make development even pricier, we wouldn’t bank on that happening.

By the looks of it, then, if you want a fast Focus now or in the future, it’s going to have to be an ST. The good news is it’s much more powerful and sophisticated than the last one, helping it fill the RS void to some extent.

Growing up on a diet of World Rally Championship highlights and lengthy Gran Turismo 2 sessions, a life in cars was as good as inevitable for Matt.

Comments

Don’t see a reason why they couldn’t produce an hybrid Focus RS or an [well-produced] electric Focus RS.

As mentioned above, costs.

Developing a car is insanely expensive, especially one with high performance hybrid powertrain. Ford currently isn’t doing well financially, they had to terminate over 1000 jobs in 2019 to cut spending. If they developed a hybrid Focus RS and wanted to make money off it, they’d either have to sell loads of them, which isn’t going to happen, or bring the price way up to Audi RS3 level or even higher. Car manufacturers only care about people who are going to buy their cars new, since they aren’t making money from used car transactions. It doesn’t matter how many people write online about how they were going to buy a used one in 5 years, if no one buys a new one the manufacturer doesn’t make any money and the car will be cancelled.

you don’t? well maybe because hybrid cars are shit, not sporty at all, and nobody cares about them? Making a hybrid sports car is like making nothing, because nothing of interest would come out of it anyway

Nooooo😥

Looks like it’s up to us, mods and the ST now

Bean counters are why American car companies are dying.

American car companies are dying because they haven’t made a decent car in years. American people buy American cars because they are American, the cars sell terribly everywhere else (except maybe Canada).