<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/sports/" rel="tag">Performance</a>, <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/geneva-motor-show/" rel="tag">Geneva Motor Show</a>, <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/hatchbacks/" rel="tag">Hatchback</a>, <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/ford/" rel="tag">Ford</a>, <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/rumormill/" rel="tag">Rumormill</a></p><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/gallery/2011-ford-focus/#5"><img hspace="0" border="0" vspace="4" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2010/01/nextgenfordfocus003_opt.jpg" alt="" /></a>
<div style="text-align: center;"><em><strong><small>Next-gen Ford Focus - Click above for high-res image gallery</small></strong></em></div>
<br />
It may not be an earth-shattering revelation or anything - <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/make/ford">Ford</a>'s own <span name="intelliTxt" id="intelliTXT">Jost Capito <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2010/02/19/ford-to-merge-u-s-and-european-performance-lines-focus-rs-comi/">said about as much</a> a couple weeks back - but Ford has reportedly confirmed at the <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/geneva-motor-show/">Geneva Motor Show</a> that it is merging its European and American high-performance divisions into one unit. First up on The Blue Oval's hi-po radar will be a hotted-up version of the <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2010/01/11/2011-ford-focus-unveiled-u-s-and-euro-models-finally-unite/">new next-gen Focus</a>.<br />
<br />
Will the car carry an ST, RS or SVT badge? That we don't yet know. Nor do we know what engine will be powering the hot hatch, though our best guess (which goes along nicely with <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2010/02/03/rumormill-350-hp-focus-rs-clubsport-coming-next-gen-rs-to-get/">rumormill fodder</a>) would be a <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2009/07/21/ford-announces-2-0-liter-ecoboost-and-dual-clutch-gearbox-for-20/">four-cylinder EcoBoost</a>. Perhaps Ford will find a few more ponies lurking within in its new <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2009/07/21/ford-officially-confirms-four-cylinder-ecoboost/">2.0-liter turbocharged and direct-injected mill</a>. We'd also gladly take the </span>Powershift six-speed dual clutch gearbox.<br />
<span name="intelliTxt" id="intelliTXT"><br />
All-wheel or front-wheel drive? Dunno. Hatchback bodyshell? Probably, and we hope so. Sale date? No clue, but certainly not before 2011 hits and probably well into the year. Price? We'll see. Clearly, there are way more questions than answers at this point, but you can consider our interest officially piqued by the notion of a return to real performance from Ford's neglected (in the U.S. at least) <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/model/focus">Focus</a> platform.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="postgallery"><p><strong>Gallery: <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2011-ford-focus/low/">2011 Ford Focus</a></strong></p><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2011-ford-focus/low/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2010/01/nextgenfordfocus000_thumbnail.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2011-ford-focus/low/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2010/01/nextgenfordfocus001_thumbnail.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2011-ford-focus/low/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2010/01/nextgenfordfocus002_thumbnail.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2011-ford-focus/low/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2010/01/nextgenfordfocus003_thumbnail.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2011-ford-focus/low/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2010/01/nextgenfordfocus004_thumbnail.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a></div><br />
[Source: <a href="http://blogs.insideline.com/straightline/2010/03/ford-announces-a-new-global-high-performance-focus.html">Inside Line</a>]<br />
</span><p style="padding:5px;background:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2010/03/01/report-global-high-performance-ford-focus-variant-to-spawn-u/">Report: Global 'high-performance' Ford Focus variant to spawn U.S. SVT version?</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://www.autoblog.com">Autoblog</a> on Mon, 01 Mar 2010 14:31:00 EST. Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.</p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href=http://blogs.insideline.com/straightline/2010/03/ford-announces-a-new-global-high-performance-focus.html>Read</a> | <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2010/03/01/report-global-high-performance-ford-focus-variant-to-spawn-u/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/forward/19378025/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a> | <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2010/03/01/report-global-high-performance-ford-focus-variant-to-spawn-u/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>
More...
<div style="text-align: center;"><em><strong><small>Next-gen Ford Focus - Click above for high-res image gallery</small></strong></em></div>
<br />
It may not be an earth-shattering revelation or anything - <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/make/ford">Ford</a>'s own <span name="intelliTxt" id="intelliTXT">Jost Capito <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2010/02/19/ford-to-merge-u-s-and-european-performance-lines-focus-rs-comi/">said about as much</a> a couple weeks back - but Ford has reportedly confirmed at the <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/geneva-motor-show/">Geneva Motor Show</a> that it is merging its European and American high-performance divisions into one unit. First up on The Blue Oval's hi-po radar will be a hotted-up version of the <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2010/01/11/2011-ford-focus-unveiled-u-s-and-euro-models-finally-unite/">new next-gen Focus</a>.<br />
<br />
Will the car carry an ST, RS or SVT badge? That we don't yet know. Nor do we know what engine will be powering the hot hatch, though our best guess (which goes along nicely with <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2010/02/03/rumormill-350-hp-focus-rs-clubsport-coming-next-gen-rs-to-get/">rumormill fodder</a>) would be a <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2009/07/21/ford-announces-2-0-liter-ecoboost-and-dual-clutch-gearbox-for-20/">four-cylinder EcoBoost</a>. Perhaps Ford will find a few more ponies lurking within in its new <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2009/07/21/ford-officially-confirms-four-cylinder-ecoboost/">2.0-liter turbocharged and direct-injected mill</a>. We'd also gladly take the </span>Powershift six-speed dual clutch gearbox.<br />
<span name="intelliTxt" id="intelliTXT"><br />
All-wheel or front-wheel drive? Dunno. Hatchback bodyshell? Probably, and we hope so. Sale date? No clue, but certainly not before 2011 hits and probably well into the year. Price? We'll see. Clearly, there are way more questions than answers at this point, but you can consider our interest officially piqued by the notion of a return to real performance from Ford's neglected (in the U.S. at least) <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/model/focus">Focus</a> platform.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="postgallery"><p><strong>Gallery: <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2011-ford-focus/low/">2011 Ford Focus</a></strong></p><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2011-ford-focus/low/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2010/01/nextgenfordfocus000_thumbnail.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2011-ford-focus/low/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2010/01/nextgenfordfocus001_thumbnail.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2011-ford-focus/low/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2010/01/nextgenfordfocus002_thumbnail.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2011-ford-focus/low/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2010/01/nextgenfordfocus003_thumbnail.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2011-ford-focus/low/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2010/01/nextgenfordfocus004_thumbnail.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a></div><br />
[Source: <a href="http://blogs.insideline.com/straightline/2010/03/ford-announces-a-new-global-high-performance-focus.html">Inside Line</a>]<br />
</span><p style="padding:5px;background:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2010/03/01/report-global-high-performance-ford-focus-variant-to-spawn-u/">Report: Global 'high-performance' Ford Focus variant to spawn U.S. SVT version?</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://www.autoblog.com">Autoblog</a> on Mon, 01 Mar 2010 14:31:00 EST. Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.</p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href=http://blogs.insideline.com/straightline/2010/03/ford-announces-a-new-global-high-performance-focus.html>Read</a> | <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2010/03/01/report-global-high-performance-ford-focus-variant-to-spawn-u/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/forward/19378025/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a> | <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2010/03/01/report-global-high-performance-ford-focus-variant-to-spawn-u/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>
More...