With a history of fast hatchbacks encompassing Fiesta, Escort, and Focus models, Ford Performance has now called an end to hot hatch production.
Ford is set to exit the hot hatch market globally, with news out of the UK that order books have closed on the Focus ST ahead of the end of production later this year.
The Focus ST name has been used across all four generations of the Ford Focus, and has been in production for 23 years.
Ford’s hot hatch history reaches back even further, however, starting with the Fiesta Supersport in 1980 and backed up by the Escort RS in 1984.
The announcement leaves Ford without an ST-branded passenger model, with the hot-hatch torch now carried by models like the Puma ST in the UK and Explorer ST in North America – both SUVs, rather than traditional passenger cars.
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The news isn’t entirely surprising, with Ford having previously announced that new-generation models would not replace the Fiesta and Focus model lines, as the popularity of compact SUVs outweighed the demand for traditional hatchbacks.
And the hatch-like Puma ST that remains has taken a cut in performance, from a 147kW 1.5-litre turbo three-cylinder to a standard-fit 125kW turbocharged 1.0-litre turbo mild-hybrid as part of an update in 2024.
Fiesta production, including the Fiesta ST, wrapped up in July 2023, while order books for the Focus ST have been filled until the end of all Focus production in November 2025.
There are said to be fewer than 200 Focus ST models left in stock at UK dealers, without customer names attached.
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Australia saw the Focus ST come to a much earlier end. The last Focus variant to be sold locally, the Focus ST, was dropped in 2022 after ST-Line and Active grades were axed in 2021.
With no hyper-hatch Focus RS offered in the final-generation Focus range, the ST became the performance flagship with a 2.3-litre four-cylinder turbo petrol engine producing 206kW and 420Nm, mated to either a six-speed manual or eight-speed automatic transmission.
No official ‘final edition’ package will be built to commemorate the end of production, although the Focus ST Edition, available in its most recent form overseas since 2024, offers lightweight 19-inch wheels with Pirelli P Zero Corsa tyres, and adjustable KW coilover suspension.
These details mark it as something of a de-facto farewell edition for the Focus ST in the UK market.
The post Ford ends 45-year hot hatch lineage with axing of Focus ST appeared first on Drive.