2021 FORD FOCUS RS CANCELLATION WILL BRING THE NEW ST TO THE SPOTLIGHT

The cancellation of the new Ford Focus RS will have huge benefits to the upcoming Ford Focus ST, and bring the new ST model into the spotlight by 2021.

The upcoming fourth-generation Ford Focus RS project has officially been cancelled, this is due to much tighter and strict European emission regulation laws that will be effective by 2021. The new law states that the average CO2 emissions need to be lowered to 95g/km by the year 2021, which will push up costs to Ford by a significant amount. Furthermore, Ford has recently taken drastic measures to cut costs, even before the COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic outbreak, which resulted in billions of dollars worth of cost savings that involved factory closings and job losses. With Ford's new cost-saving strategy, as well as the new emission regulation laws, it is simply not viable for Ford to continue with a high cost, low return project such as the Ford Focus RS.

The current, third-generation of the mighty Ford Focus RS stunned the automotive world at its debut with its high-tech race-like features and neck-breaking performance. It features a turbocharged 2.3-litre 4-cylinder Ford ecoboost engine that produces 350hp, with a perfectly balanced 350 lb-ft of torque and a 0-60 time of just 4.7-seconds. The Ford Focus RS also boasts an all-wheel-drive system which makes it even more competitive on the track. This third-generation Ford Focus RS also makes use of SYNC 3 for its infotainment system, which features a fully adaptive touchscreen interface with top performance. The Ford Focus RS also had a rather controversial Drift Mode button, which changes up which wheels receive the power as well as a specially designed differential to enable the car to lose traction and enable a drift.

So with the 2021 Ford Focus RS cancellation, what does this mean for the next iconic Ford Focus ST?

The Ford Focus ST still holds the title of Ford's top hot-hatch, with the most sales out of its performance range. It offers top performance for your hard-earned cash at a reasonable price, and competes well with its top rivals like the Volkswagen Golf GTI and Renault Megan RS.

The next-generation Ford Focus ST is said to have some significant upgrades, both visual and cosmetic, as well as a bump in performance. With no official confirmation on what we can expect as yet, all we know is that, with the cancellation of the Ford Focus RS, the spotlight will now be on the mighty Ford Focus ST as the American manufacturers top performance hot hatch yet again.

Take a look at the video below by YouTube channel Sam A as he discusses the likelyhood of another Focus RS, and asks if the MK3 Ford Focus RS will be the last of its kind.

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