We apologize for getting your hopes up about seeing the rally inspired Focus RS in Ford dealerships here in the U.S., and despite the company’s Executive Vice President, Mark Fields telling me that “anything is possible” with a reserved grin on his face, apparently a U.S. spec RS is not.

Apparently the Focus RS that was spotted in Michigan wearing manufacturer plates was nothing more than a false alarm. The official word was handed down by Jost Capito, the man in charge of Ford’s global performance division. In an interview with AutoCar magazine, the Ford representative said that "we’d like to , but the base car isn’t homologated for North America and that’s too costly a job to carry out just for a niche vehicle like the RS."

So if you were saving up your paychecks to go out and pick up a Focus RS as soon as it came stateside, we were sorry to get your hopes up. The way that things are looking, it is more likely that you will be able to purchase a Fiesta Sport than Ford’s latest hot hatch.

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