Brace yourself, hot hatch fans – an all-new Ford Focus RS is coming, and this time everyone gets it.
[Not a valid template]Ford has announced that not only is an all-new Focus RS in development right now, but for the first time it’ll be a global car. The previous generation was only available in limited markets, but demand was such that its successor will be much more widely distributed.
The new Focus RS will be part of “more than 12” new performance vehicles that will be released in the run up to 2020, with Ford uniting its various regional performance engineering and racing teams as one global team, under the Ford Performance banner. That means SVT, Ford Racing and Team RS are now one Ford Performance family.
The last Focus RS (above) was launched in 2009, although the Ford RS heritage dates back to 1968. It’s a badge reserved for the proper driver’s version of a model, and it’s a sector that’s growing – performance vehicle sales grew in Europe and the US by 14 percent and 70 percent respectively since 2009.
Ford has appointed Dave Pericak to the position of director, Global Ford Performance. Dave was formerly chief engineer for the new Ford Mustang.
