Ford Has Built the Last Focus ST for Europe
The Ford Focus hasn’t been sold in North America for several years, but the car has remained a fixture in several other countries in the time since. That’s now coming to an end, at least for one popular variant of the car, as the automaker recently announced the end of production for the Focus ST, saying the final unit had rolled off the assembly line.
Ford cut the Fiesta ST a few years earlier, with CEO Jim Farley saying the automaker didn’t make money on the cars, despite their popularity with customers. The Focus ST’s order books closed a few months ago, so this day doesn’t come as a surprise.
The Blue Oval’s moves to cut models in Europe coincide with a slide in its market share. It commands just 3.3 percent of the market, behind Korean rivals Hyundai and Kia. Volkswagen has sold several times more cars than Ford in the first part of this year, but it’s hard to say that the Focus, Fiesta, or Mondeo would turn the company’s fortunes.
Tightening Euro emissions rules have made it increasingly difficult for automakers to sell gas-powered performance cars in Europe, leading to the demise of the Honda Civic Type R and other vehicles. Ford has a long tradition of building small, fun-to-drive cars for European markets, however, so almost anything is possible as it plots its next moves on the old continent.
[Images: Ford]
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Chris grew up in, under, and around cars, but took the long way around to becoming an automotive writer. After a career in technology consulting and a trip through business school, Chris began writing about the automotive industry as a way to reconnect with his passion and get behind the wheel of a new car every week. He focuses on taking complex industry stories and making them digestible by any reader. Just don’t expect him to stay away from high-mileage Porsches.
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After 30 years buying Ford products, I stopped buying Ford the day they cancelled producing sedans. I simply switched to other brands where I can buy a sedan as there´s no human power that´s going to make me buy an SUV or a crossover for the simple reason that I don´t like them. On the other hand, if Farley isn´t capable of making money on the cars or isn´t capable of compete with other brands (particularly chinese as he recently declared), perhaps it´s time for Ford to substitute Farley for someone really capable. Someone capable of making money on cars, someone capable of competing successfully with other brands and someone capable of maintaining or increasing Ford´s market share. If Ford sells a third of what Hyundai or Kia or several times less than VW, probably the problem are the CEO´s wrong decisions. A few years ago, Ford and VW had the same market share. That didn´t change just by chance.
I remember seeing an SVT or an ST, same blue as the article, in a Ford showroom a few miles from home.
I thought it had some appeal, in spite of this shade of blue, and attempted to sit in the drivers seat. It looked tight. It is tight, and even though I managed to squeeze in, I was never comfortable.
Here is what puzzled me. I'm not large and I'm slightly taller than the average man -two inches taller - big deal, yet I felt as if I was in the tiniest 'cockpit' I've ever sat in.
"Violently pushing open the driver's door he fell onto the showroom floor gasping for air, his fingers around his throat...... ".
Just kidding. It wasn't that bad , but I couldn't own one.