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" Fans of extra-spicy hot hatches may soon have a new reason to celebrate as the tea leaves are increasingly pointing to a new Ford Focus RS. Like every other automaker, Ford of course never comments on announced products until they are shown at an auto show nine months to a year before production. After that of course we can&amp;#039;t get them to stop talking but that&amp;#039;s another story.   When Ford delivered the last generation Focus RS to European enthusiasts five years ago, it was widely lauded as one of the best handling front-wheel drive cars of all time. This was particularly impressive given that those front tires had to provide directional control at the same time they transmitted more than 300 hp to the pavement. The one thing the Focus RS was unable to do was share the fun with American drivers.   That last RS pre-dated the One Ford philosophy which has consolidated virtually all of Ford&amp;#039;s products including the current Focus onto a handful of global platforms. The result of that globalization effort has been the introduction of several previously unavailable in America products like the Focus ST, Fiesta ST and C-MAX. If Ford does indeed build a new RS, it will be derived from a car already sold in this market so elements like crash safety are already covered.  What about propulsion?   The previous RS was motivated by a turbocharged 2.5-liter five-cylinder that was sourced from Volvo. In the past five years, Volvo has passed on to new Chinese ownership and Ford has aggressively pursued a strategy of offering EcoBoost turbocharged and direct-injected engines in almost every platform they build. Ford now has five EcoBoost engines ranging from a 1.0-liter triple to the 3.5-liter V6 grandaddy of the lineup and a sixth is expected to arrive in 2014.   A larger 2.3-liter four-pot is expected to make an appearance in both the next Mustang and the production version of the Lincoln MKC crossover. The 2.0-liter in the Focus ST already cranks out 255-hp and a 2.3-liter could reasonably expected to produce upwards of 300 without trying too hard. Since we&amp;#039;re almost 100 percent certain this larger EcoBoost four will be available around the world in the new Mustang, it must be capable of meeting global emissions requirements.   Does it make business sense?    Ford has a globally certified platform and a suitable engine, so what&amp;#039;s the problem. Well there is the issue of that EcoBoost-powered Mustang. Why would you want a Focus when you can have a Mustang with the same powertrain? Hard as it may be for pony car fans to stomach, there are people that would rather have a compact hatchback than a brawny rear-drive coupe or convertible. The reverse obviously holds true as well.   The advantage of the One Ford platform strategy is that they can put a wide variety of body styles to meet every conceivable need on the same hardware set. The C-segment platform already has four Focus body-styles, two C-MAX variants, the Escape/Kuga and the upcoming Transit Connect and MKC. While Ford is reducing platforms, they clearly feel that there is plenty of room in the market for different flavors.   Ford of Europe product development chief Barb Samardzich has said as much. &amp;quot;  There&amp;#039;s more room for more performance products  across the range in the small, medium and large car segments,&amp;quot; said Samardzich. &amp;quot;A whole suite of such cars is what I have in mind.&amp;quot; If we can have a Fiesta ST and a Focus ST, why not a Focus RS and a Mustang?   Since most of the hardest work is already done to develop the platforms and engines, the incremental effort to mix and match them in different ways shouldn&amp;#039;t be that hard. Obviously a Focus RS would need some extra bits like suspension and brake upgrades and perhaps an electronically controlled differential, but it&amp;#039;s doable. Since Ford&amp;#039;s manufacturing facilities for the C-Segment family are highly flexible (the Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne already builds, gas, hybrid, PHEV and electric flavors of Focus and C-MAX) so one more can&amp;#039;t be that big a problem.   Volkswagen already sells the Golf R here in the U.S. with a sticker price of more than $35,000 and Ford is commanding higher transaction prices for mainstreaming models thanks to its Titanium trim levels so Focus RS in the low $30s is not a completely absurd idea. The Focus ST has been selling well since going on sale last summer and the Fiesta ST is expected to follow suit.   While no one is speaking on the record yet, sources hiding behind the blue oval indicate that a Focus RS as described here will almost certainly happen and when it does, it will probably be available to American drivers. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.roadandtrack.com/new-cars/future-cars/news/a4586/go-future-car-news-the-case-for-a-new-focus-rs-is-strong/>