Assuming all goes as expected, Tuesday, April 10 could be a noteworthy day for Ford Motor Company performance fans – if they live in Europe. Ford Europe has been teasing the launch of the 2019 Ford Focus with video and still shots in anticipation of the hot hatch’s debut. American buyers have to wait a year.
Ford appeased disappointed Focus RS fans in 2017 when the Blue Oval company announced 2018 would be the final year for the then-current third-generation Focus RS. Ford announced a limited edition of 1,500 Focus RS’s, including 1,000 for the U.S. and 500 for Canada. The current year Focus ended production April 6.
Expectations are running high for the next generation Focus. European buyers will get the first crack at the new model, which will be built in Ford’s Saarlouis, Germany factory.
The 2019 Focus will not be sold in the U.S. North American buyers will have to wait for the 2020 Focus model year, scheduled to start production in China in the second half of 2019.
Autoblog has reported sightings of Focus test mules in both four-door hatchback and sedan versions. Test mules are new model designs in various stages of development that are being tested on public roads and are usually disguised with image-distorting wraps or paint jobs. According to Motor Authority, a Focus station wagon variant to be built in Europe will not be sold in the U.S.
In June 2017, at the same time Ford announced a $900 million expansion in a Kentucky truck plant to build 2018 Ford Expeditions and Lincoln Navigators for more than 55 global markets, the company stated the first versions of the next-gen Focus for the North American market would be manufactured in China. Later model versions would be produced in Ford’s European plants.
Ford also announced the 2019 Ford Focus would have “more technology, more space, and a number of new Focus models.”
Details about powertrains were not available before the model launch. In addition to turbocharged engines, including both manual-shift and automatic variants, most observers assume there will be a plug-in hybrid (PHEV).
Motor1 reports the initial European Focus models will include a five-door hatchback ST Line version, a deluxe Vignale trim, and a “crossover-like” Active. The Focus sedan, wagon, and hotter 2019 Focus ST and RS hatchbacks aren’t expected until later in the year, according to Motor1.
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