Ford has confirmed that a new high-performance version of its best-selling Focus will be introduced to the market .
The giant carmaker said its latest Focus RS edition will launch across Europe in 2009, with a concept version of the car set to be unveiled in mid-2008.
Ford’s concept model has already been under development for some months within the manufacturer’s Team RS – the specialist rally division behind the creation and development of Ford’s previous Focus and Fiesta ST models .
With the green light secured for the Focus project, Team RS will now be responsible for taking the car from prototype to production in time for its 2009 launch.
Jost Capito, the newly appointed vehicle line director for Ford Europe performance vehicles, said: "We have reviewed our technical options and worked closely with the design team on how the car might look, and I'm very excited by the results."
"Now with the programme going ahead, the hard work really starts as the small team working on the project takes the car from prototype to production ."
