Filed under: Euro, Hatchbacks, Ford, UK
Now That's Fast: UK Ford dealers take 1000 orders for Focus RS
Click above for a hi-res gallery of the 2009 Ford Focus RS
The fastest piece of machinery ever devised by Ford of Europe, the highly anticipated Focus RS, just had its first public showing in London and is about to be officially unveiled in Paris next month. But with delivery expected to begin sometime next year, Ford dealers in the United Kingdom alone have already taken over 1,000 orders for the new hot hatch. Color options haven't even been officially announced yet – with only Electric Green, Electric Blue and Frozen White confirmed so far – but most customers have already specified their color choices.
We'll be on hand next month to bring you live shots of the new Focus Rallye Sport, so stay tuned. In the meantime, we've got a review of the Focus ST coming your way, plus a hi-res gallery of the Focus RS below and the press release after the jump.
Gallery: 2009 Ford Focus RS (green)
[Source: Ford]
PRESS RELEASE
OVER 1,000 ORDERS FOR NEW FORD FOCUS RS
BRENTWOOD, Essex, 10 September, 2008 – Ford's UK dealer network has been inundated with orders for the all-new high performance Ford Focus RS which was previewed at the British International Motor Show in London in July.
So far 1,000 customer orders have been placed. Although no details of available colours have been confirmed, around 40 per cent of the applicants requested the unique Electric Green shade of the London Show vehicle. Other popular requests were Frozen White and Electric Blue.
Roelant de Waard, Chairman and Managing Director of Ford of Britain said: "We're delighted by the reaction of performance car enthusiasts to the new Focus RS and that so many want to place orders even though it will not be available until early next year."
At the heart of the new Ford Focus RS is a specially developed 300PS version of Ford's Duratec 2.5-litre five-cylinder turbocharged engine.
The new model marks a welcome return for the Rallye Sport badge which has played such an important role in Ford's rich motorsport heritage. This will be the second Focus model to carry the RS mantle since 2002 and heralds another chapter in an automotive story which began with the iconic Ford Escort RS1600 in 1970.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
srDRIVEN 7:40PM (9/11/2008)
Ford wonders about its problems in the US, but I can't understand thier confusion because I can't wrap my mind around why are cars like this not available here. I might not be first in line to buy one, but this vehicle is superior to any trim level of focus we could even dream about having stateside(Ford's home turf at that!). It could be shipped here tomorrow with success as an R32 / Evo / Sti - ish rival hatch.
I can't help but think Ford is missing out in the US market over decisions just like these.
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srDRIVEN 7:44PM (9/11/2008)
no are,* sorry
...and man, this car is really cooler than I had initially thought. 300hp/325ft-lbs. arctic white, yes please.
Adam Marcello 7:49PM (9/11/2008)
Not sure if this would win over evos and stis (no AWD) but it would certainly hold up to the mazdaspeed 3, cobalt ss/tc, and other fwd sport cars.
Im quite jealous and Im a GM guy. This is a great looking car. I bet its a blast to drive as well.
riskylogic 9:49PM (9/11/2008)
Well, it IS the Ford version of the next-gen Mazdaspeed 3 -- which will also have the Volvo 5-cyl turbo.
No Welfare for GM 8:55PM (9/11/2008)
Well the first question is HOW MUCH. This car is a limited car, VERY powerful, pimped out and all. So my take it may cost 25 Ks. Seems pricey, although i do see a regular version of this car,as well as this one (in limited numbers) selling very well here in USA. I think Ford would have to hit the common guy as well to make money.
Chase 9:38PM (9/11/2008)
Just to put it out there... are VW, Mitsubishi, or Subaru very successful in the US?
...
No? You have no one to blame aside from the American people for buying all of those huge, ugly, boring cars over wonderful pieces of machinated art such as this. Need a quick solution? Move to Europe! :)
hankfidel 6:44PM (9/12/2008)
I was told that Focuses like this would do laps around Mustangs and steal profits as well. But still, people in the US buy big boring cars shouldn't affect us getting cars like the Focus RS because we don't really get like these in the first place to turn them down.
tankd0g 7:42PM (9/11/2008)
Imagine someone actually preordering the current north American focus when it first rolled out...
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Torrent 7:45PM (9/11/2008)
ROFLMAO
srDRIVEN 7:46PM (9/11/2008)
Bingo
No Welfare for GM 9:10PM (9/11/2008)
I saw torrents reply "ROFLMAO" and i thought what could be THAT funny.
"Imagine someone actually preordering the current north American focus when it first rolled out..."
I had a nice chuckle after reading this line myself.
Scott 7:46PM (9/11/2008)
Yeah, Americans surely wouldn't buy this Focus. No sir. We'd much rather have that rolling snoozefest Ford currently heaps upon us. Selling this thing here might undercut sales of the 87,000 Mustang variants currently on the market and we just can't allow that to happen.
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tankd0g 8:19PM (9/11/2008)
Indeed, they need to do something with all those left over pickup truck rear ends....
Eddie 7:50PM (9/11/2008)
When I see cars like this and FPV cars in Australia, I want US ford to die.
They have the capability of bringing these great cars to the US, they just choose not to.
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hydrogenvodka 2:52AM (9/12/2008)
because YOU would buy it, as most autobloggers would. but then again, 90% of your american fellows would not. That's why.
They are not that stupid, its just there aren't enough buyers.
Smeagle 3:28AM (9/12/2008)
Not enought buyers? Well its all relative isnt it. They only sell a couple of thousand FPVs here every year. Even if it were only a small proportion of the US market that would buy them, the market itself is 15 times the size of ours.
SimbaDogg 5:09PM (9/12/2008)
not enough buyers my ass...if ford was willing to make a ford focus svt stateside, which did DECENTLY compared to its competitors, and sold quite well, what do you think is the reasoning in them not wanting to bring something over that compete toe to toe w/ a car like the WRX, if not even an STI/EVO?
Even as more and more mftrs are bringing over, or still selling pocket rockets (civic si, mazda speed 3, sti/wrx, evo/lancer ralliart, cobalt ss (ehhh, at least GM is sitting at the table), caliber srt, mini coop s, GTI/R32 ford refuses to snap out of it.
The thing that is funny is, you said "they are not that stupid", but the thing is, they are. Of course just about all manufacturers would be smart enough to put all their eggs in the SUV/truck basket, then find that they were selling their F150s for 10k under sticker (brand new) and then struggle to build SMALL cars that people want. Pure genius FMC, puuure genius.
Kumail891 7:56PM (9/11/2008)
they should make rs version's of the fiesta here, the na focus looks like a a piece of shiny sh!t but the fiesta is just hot. just imagine a rs fiesta....
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Chris 8:00PM (9/11/2008)
as the proud owner of an 04 focus svt zx5 I can truly say I would kill someone to get my hands on this car. The comment about people pre-ordering the current focus.....priceless. All of the new one's I've seen here in town are driven by either 40+ or first car going to college. I still find the original the best looking, even after 8 years.
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P B 8:28PM (9/11/2008)
I'm always on the look out for an SVT in good condition. I would trade my vanilla ZX5 for one in an instant.