Ford Focus RS500 hero hatch on the rocks – report

The hotter version of one the hottest hatches you can buy – the Ford Focus RS500 – may never see the light of day, according to a new report out of the UK.

According to Autocar, the circa-295kW hyper-hatch is currently around a 30 per cent chance of entering production (according to unnamed sources), because there isn’t a strong business case for such a model.

Prototypes for the hyper hatch were spotted earlier this year at the Nurburgring, though reports at the time were already indicating there was no guarantee the reborn RS500 badge would be making it into showrooms.

Autocar’s latest article cites a cloud of uncertainty around sales in the US as the new RS500’s biggest obstacle.

While such a model should prove successful in markets like Europe, the Blue Oval’s American arm is said to not be sold on having a product that could potentially tread on the toes of the Mustang pony car.

Timing is another issue, as the next-generation Focus is expected to debut sometime next year or in 2018 – giving the company a very small window to launch the special model.

It has been six years since Ford released the original Focus RS500, which was powered by an uprated version of the ‘regular’ Focus RS’s 2.5-litre turbocharged five-cylinder engine.

Producing 260kW of power and 460Nm, the Focus RS500 was capable of sprinting from 0-100km/h 5.6 seconds, on its way to a top speed of 263km/h.

Meanwhile, the current-generation Focus RS, powered by a 257kW/440Nm 2.3-litre turbo four, has been a global sales success, with the waiting list pushing deep into 2017.

Do you want to see a new Ford Focus RS500? Let us know in the comments below

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