There’s no easy way to put it so here we go: Ford won’t build a fourth-generation Focus RS because it cannot develop a high-performance hybrid powertrain for the sports car, one that would help the carmaker keep its vehicle fleet within the EU’s CO2 emission standards requirements.

A hybrid powertrain focused on performance is “not cost-effective”

According to Autocar, Ford won’t pursue the development of the fourth-generation Focus RS because it would have to implement a performance-oriented hybrid powertrain for the hot hatch and doing so is not financially feasible.

“As a result of pan-European emissions standards, increased CO2 taxation and the high cost of developing an RS with some form of electrification for a relatively low volume of vehicles, we are not planning another RS version of the Focus,” said a Ford spokesperson quoted by the same outlet.

We even wrote in-depth about the topic earlier this year, when we believed the new Focus RS will be a performance-focused hybrid.

As things stand right now, the range-topping Focus will be the ST variant, at least for the current generation, until Ford finds a way to make the Focus RS work - perhaps for the model’s fifth iteration? One can dream, right?

The 2019 Ford Focus ST, unavailable in the U.S., starts at €32,200 in Germany. It can be had in two flavors, powered by either a gasoline engine or a diesel one.

The gasoline unit is a 2.3-liter EcoBoost mill good for 280 PS (276 horsepower) while the diesel is a 2.0-liter EcoBlue powerplant rated at 190 PS (187 horsepower). The only transmission available is a six-speed manual.

For the sake of the argument, the previous Mk3 Ford Focus RS made do with a 2.3-liter turbocharged and intercooled EcoBoost engine that cranked out 350 horsepower at 6,000 rpm and 350 pound-feet of twist at 3,200 rpm.} A six-speed manual gearbox sent power to all fours via a smart full-time all-wheel drive setup fitted with a drift mode.

2021 Ford Focus RS vs 2020 Ford Focus RS