Explained: Why Ford have decided to pull the plug on Focus ST
Ford have rolled the final Focus ST from their Saarlouis plant in Germany, with the standard model set to retire soon as well. It comes with more carmakers going towards making electric alternatives.
New Delhi: After decades of having a hot hatchback in their portfolio, Ford have decided to pull the plug on the Focus ST. The final car rolled out of the facility at Saarlouis in Germany last Friday. While Ford are still making the regular Focus, the production of this too is set to end in November.
Ford had stopped taking orders for Focus ST months ago, and everyone knew that it was being jacked in. It follows the Fiesta ST discontinuation, which stopped production two years ago. Like with the Focus, the car was ultimately dropped from the lineup completely. CEO Jim Farley in 2024 said that the company wasn’t making any money through the product, though customers like it.
Ford's poor performance in Europe
In fact, discontinuing the Fiesta in 2023 and the Mondeo just a year before has made their life in Turkey hard. Their market share has now reduced to only 3.3 per cent, below Hyundai’s and Kia, which each hold 4 per cent market share. According to the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA), Ford has only sold 260,342 units in the first eight months of the year, a not impressive number.
VW delivered almost three and a half times more without counting their sub-brand. Skoda alone has double Ford’s volume. How have the mighty fallen from making some of the most favourite cars ever/
The ST’s departure is also a stark reminder of how the European hot hatchback segment is slowly falling. Even the Honda Civic Type R had to be discontinued owing to stricter emission laws. Hyundai 120 N and 130 N have also been discontinued, with Peugeot 308 GTi being gone many years ago now. VW still sells Polo GTi and Golf GTi/R, and Audi still has S3 and RS3 Sportback.
The brands are looking towards electric alternatives with products like Abarth 500e, VW ID.3 GTX and Peugeot E-208 GTi. The plant in Saarlouis will stay open until 2032, with the car production ending, but around 1000 jobs will remain intact. Though there are new products, Ford haven’t said where it will be built. For Ford, the journey is more towards SUVs.
In India, there has been a growing interest in SUVs, with the compact SUV section more in a country which was once obsessed with hatchbacks. However, there seem to be more options in the country still, in both premium and regular hatchback segments.