Ford Focus ST teased before Goodwood debut

FORD has teased its new Focus ST hot-hatch ahead of its international debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in the United Kingdom this week.

The image which shows part of the Focus ST’s headlight and grille, along with a link to a video of the car being driven on a track, but shot from high above, was posted by Ford on its official Facebook page.

No details about the car were released with the latest teasers on Facebook, only the words: “We have a surprise for you. There’s an exciting new Ford on the way, making its global debut at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed on June 27th…” The reveal will involve regular demonstrations of the car on the hill climb track at the festival, with Ben Collins – formerly The Stig from the BBC’s Top Gear television program – racing the Focus ST against another ‘driver’ up the hill climb.

The catch is, the other driver will be steering the road rocket on the same track but in the PlayStation game, Gran Turismo 6 while Collins is outside doing it for real. The action will be displayed on big screens around the festival.

These are the first images Ford has released of the car, which reveals a revised honeycomb grille, similar to its smaller Fiesta ST sibling, while the headlights also appear sleeker.

Ford has not released any other information apart confirming that it will benefit from technology and quality improvements revealed earlier this year for the updated Ford Focus.

The 2015 Focus made its international debut in February this year at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, ahead of its second appearance at the Geneva Motor show in March.

The mid-life facelift brought with it a revised front end, which takes on an Aston Martin-like grille and narrower headlights for a look which now brings it into line with the current Ford family face, while the tail-lights have also been reshaped.

Inside, the dash carries a more minimalist design with fewer buttons cluttering the cabin. A larger 4.2-inch screen is built into the dashboard and there will be more in the way of safety equipment too, such as a reversing camera.

Ford says the Focus ST will gain all of these revisions made to the regular Focus, too.

The current Focus ST is powered by a 2.0-litre 184kW/360Nm turbo four-cylinder petrol engine, which is unlikely to change, although it may be tuned for more power and torque.

The Ford Focus was the world's best selling car in 2013 with 1.1 million units sold globally.

In Australia, sales remain strong, with a year-to-date figure of 7218 units putting it in second place in the Blue Oval's line-up behind the Ranger 4X4 on 7791 for the same period.

Ford Australia says that that the new Focus will arrive in sometime in 2015 but has not specified an exact date.

The current-generation Focus arrived in Australia in August 2011, with the ST arriving in September 2012.