The Ford Focus ST has become the latest hot hatch to be axed due to Europe’s tightening emissions standards.
The 2.5-litre turbo five-pot in Ford Focus ST has joined the 2.0-litre unit from Honda’s Civic Type R in falling short of the Euro 5 standard, which becomes a mandatory minimum for new cars next January.
The ST’s four-cylinder successor is likely to make its debut at October’s Paris show.
UK production of the Honda Civic Type R will end in October because Honda has decided to remove it from UK price lists rather than make the necessary engine changes. More than 12,000 Civic Type R units have been sold in the UK since January 2007.
Sales of the Civic Type R will carry on in the UK until December and It will continue to be sold outside of the EU for much of next year, although a new generation has yet to be confirmed.
Other Euro 5 victims include the 3.2 V6 in the Alfa Brera, the Mazda RX-8 and the VW Group’s 5.0 V10 turbodiesel.
Mark Tisshaw
Mark is a journalist with more than a decade of top-level experience in the automotive industry. He first joined Autocar in 2009, having previously worked in local newspapers. He has held several roles at Autocar, including news editor, deputy editor, digital editor and his current position of editor, one he has held since 2017.
From this position he oversees all of Autocar’s content across the print magazine, autocar.co.uk website, social media, video, and podcast channels, as well as our recent launch, Autocar Business. Mark regularly interviews the very top global executives in the automotive industry, telling their stories and holding them to account, meeting them at shows and events around the world.
Mark is a Car of the Year juror, a prestigious annual award that Autocar is one of the main sponsors of. He has made media appearances on the likes of the BBC, and contributed to titles including What Car?, Move Electric and Pistonheads, and has written a column for The Sun.
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Re: Ford Focus ST axed
ok i think we can agree on that now.
Re: Ford Focus ST axed
OK there is some poorly worded information out there but Jan 2011 is the deadline for ALL NEW CARS. Why else would manufacturers be dropping engines if they didn't have to? http://www.europarl.europa.eu/meetdocs/2004_2009/documents/dv/622/622004... With effect from 1 January 2011... national authorities shall, in the case of new vehicles which do not comply with this Regulation... consider certificates of conformity to be no longer valid... relating to emissions or fuel consumption, refuse registration and prohibit the sale and entry into service of such vehicles.
Re: Ford Focus ST axed
I would love to see the methodology for this. Do they trap soot and use a scale? I bet they do.