Behold the 2012 Ford Focus ST. Ugly, isn’t it?
What you see here are the latest images released by Ford, showing the new Focus ST complete with lairy paintwork and sporty bodykit. Ford have gone for a more aggressive style following feedback from customers who said that they wanted the ST to stand out more from the rest of the Focus range. The paintjob is called ‘Tangerine Scream’ and is exclusive to the ST.
The Focus ST will initially be available as a five-door hatchback, while Ford develops a 3-door coupe-style Focus (think Astra sport Hatch and Megane coupe). Personally I’m not a big fan of the new Focus’s looks – I can live with the front, but that back end is not the prettiest! It also ditches the vertical tail lights, a signature feature of the Focus since it’s 1998 launch. We can probably blame the styling on Ford’s new global Performance Vehicles strategy – this is the first hot Ford that’s intended to be sold worldwide.
The good news is that the car will have more power when it’s launched. It’ll have a 2.0-litre 4-cylinder EcoBoost engine capable of 250PS (or 247bhp in English) and if you’re not familiar with marketing speak then EcoBoost is just another name for turbocharged. There are no performance figures yet and no indication of weight – the latest Fiesta is lighter than its predecessor, so hopefully Ford will be able to continue that trend and cut some of the flab from the current Focus.
The bad news is that we’ve got to wait until early 2012 for the Focus ST, following the worldwide launch of the standard Focus in March/April 2011.
Ford will officially unveil the Focus ST on September 30th at the Pairs Motor Show.
