Just don’t expect to find the hot hatchback in North America.
Ford’s electrification plans might include an eco-friendly version of a hot hatchback. Car sources claim the 2021 Focus RS will be a hybrid with a beefy 400BHP gas engine driving the front wheels while an electric motor exclusively drives the rear. It’s not a completely unique concept (this is somewhat reminiscent of Volvo), but it would certainly be unusual for Ford. And like you’d imagine, this would be as much about a performance boost as it would fuel efficiency.
Car suggested that hybrid tech for the rear wheels would not only provide better traction, but improve handling through smarter torque vectoring. It wouldn’t be the same as a conventional all-wheel drive system (where one powerplant drives all four wheels), but it would accomplish many of the same goals.
It’s not certain when the new Focus RS will be ready, assuming the report is accurate in the first place. The one certainty? It won’t come to the US. Ford is still committed to ditching most cars in the country, and the Focus RS is most definitely a car. Still, this could show how Ford handles performance hybrids going forward, whether they’re hatchbacks, SUVs or anything in between.
