Ford Focus RS Not Coming to North America

Colum Wood
by Colum Wood

Several weeks ago we ran a few photos of a Ford Focus RS that was spotted in a suburb of Detroit. This of course led to speculation that FoMoCo was planning to bring its amazing hot hatch to the U.S.

Sadly, a Ford exec has confirmed that the RS will not make its way stateside. And to kill any hope for those still holding on to it, the executive just so happens to be Jost Capito, the new head of Ford’s global performance division.

Capito told the U.K.’s AutoCar that, “We’d like to, but the base car isn’t homologated for North America and that’s too costly a job to carry out just for a niche vehicle like the RS.”

That means North American consumers will continue to miss out on the aggressively styled Focus, which boasts a turbocharged five-cylinder engine with 295hp and 302 ft-lbs of torque.

[Source: AutoCar]

Colum Wood
Colum Wood

With AutoGuide from its launch, Colum previously acted as Editor-in-Chief of Modified Luxury & Exotics magazine where he became a certifiable car snob driving supercars like the Koenigsegg CCX and racing down the autobahn in anything over 500 hp. He has won numerous automotive journalism awards including the Best Video Journalism Award in 2014 and 2015 from the Automotive Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC). Colum founded Geared Content Studios, VerticalScope's in-house branded content division and works to find ways to integrate brands organically into content.

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 2 comments
  • Es Es on May 29, 2009

    Bah! Of course we are going to miss out on the coolest looking ford focus model. Too bad. Maybe some aftermarket kits can bring it up (close to) RS Spec.

  • Corey Corey on Apr 08, 2010

    all i have to say is well SCREW YOU FORD! you do this everytime! and they wonder why no one wants your crap cars! we dont want an ecoboost taurus! we want sweet hatchbacks! what is your deal!

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