Ford Official Says No to U.S. Version of Focus RS 305HP. Then How About a Fiesta RS?

As much as North American buyers would have wanted to see the 300HP Focus RS making its way to this side of the Atlantic, unfortunately this isn't going to happen for the usual cost-related reasons. In an interview with Britain's Autocar magazine, Ford's recently appointed Global Performance Vehicles and Motorsport Business Development director, Jost Capito, confirmed that the company has no plans on selling the high-performance version of the Focus in the States.

"We'd like to, but the base car isn't homologated for North America, and that's too costly a job to carry out just for a niche vehicle like the RS," said Capito.

Interestingly, when asked about the possibility of a performance version of the Fiesta, Capito said that while he couldn't discuss future plans, Ford believes that "in Europe, the Fiesta and Focus are too close to make two similar performance models work."

Although the British magazine did not ask a follow-up question on the matter, Capito's answer and reference to Europe and not the U.S. doesn't rule out the possibility that Ford may develop a high-performance version of the Fiesta for the States.

The US-bound Fiestas that are slated to hit U.S. dealerships in the beginning of 2010 will be manufactured at the company's revised Cuautitlan Assembly Plant in Mexico. If Ford wants to create some buzz around the car and why not, maybe even make a profit out of it, a high-performance Fiesta would certainly fit in the range.

source: http://carscoop.blogspot.com