Ahead of the end of production of the Ford Focus in November, the last-ever Ford Focus ST rolls off the production line.
Having already dumped the Ford Fiesta in its misguided attempt to turn buyers on to EVs, Ford will end production of the Ford Focus in November.
When the decision to dump the best-selling Fiesta and Focus was made, Ford clearly thought its future would be EVs, but with demand for EVs falling well short of the bullish predictions of just a few years ago, and the lukewarm reception for Ford’s Mustang Mach-E and its VW clones, it looks like a move too early.
Dropping the Fiesta has handed sales to cars like the Peugeot 208 and Renault Clio (which has just arrived as a new model), and the end of Focus production will hand the VW Golf – already Europe’s third best-selling car in 2024 with 200k sales – a boost.
Now, ahead of the end of production of the Ford Focus in November, it looks like the last ever Focus Hot Hatch – the Ford Focus ST – has rolled off the production line at Ford’s plant in Germany.
It’s the end of the line for the Golf GTI-rivalling ST, which first arrived back in 20002 as the 167bhp ST170, with a second generation ST in 2005 with 225bhp, a third generation in 2012 with 247bhp and a final fourth generation arriving in 2019 with 276bhp.
This is the end of the line for the ICE Ford Focus ST, but don’t bet against it returning as a high-riding EV in the near future as Ford tries the ‘Capri Trick’ to boost EV sales.