Snapshot
- Production of the Ford Focus set to end in 2025
- Hatchback was launched in 1998 as a replacement to the Escort and Laser
- Successor likely to be fully-electric
Ford has confirmed the Focus hatchback will be discontinued in 2025, or at least as we know it.
Speaking to media in Europe last night, Ford of Europe Chairman Stuart Rowley announced the Blue Oval was seeking “alternative opportunities” for the Focus’s home plant in Saarlouis, Germany, with no plans in place to replace its long-running nameplate within the facility.
“We are seeking other alternative opportunities for vehicle production at Saarlouis, including other manufacturers,” said Rowley, as reported by Automotive News Europe.
“We do not have in our planning cycle an additional model that goes into Saarlouis.”
The facelifted Focus is due in Australia later this year
Ford of Europe also confirmed its next-generation of electric vehicles will be produced at its Valencian plant in Spain, with the Saarlouis factory missing out on the opportunity to be electrified.
Last year, Ford’s European design boss Murat Gueler wouldn’t rule out the Focus nameplate being carried across onto an EV.
“Everybody’s launching electric cars and we will launch a few in the future,” said Gueler when asked about an electric Focus.
“Definitely, we’re looking at everything – proportions, architectures… we’re really busy designing all the next-generation cars. There’s a lot of work going on.”
The five-pot Focus RS was a revolution when it launched in 2009
If the Focus disappears from global showrooms in 2025, it will be the end of a 27-year run for the model which reignited Ford’s stake in the hatchback market internationally, having replaced the ageing Escort nameplate in the UK and the Mazda 323-based Laser in Australia back in 1998.
European sales of the Focus hit its highest point in 2001 with just over 543,000 units shifted, although the Global Financial Crisis pushed annual sales below 300,000 for the first time in 2010, slipping down from 269,000 at the start of the decade to 101,000 by the end of last year.
Since its Australian launch in 2002, the Focus took 11 years to hit its local sales peak of 19,180 units in 2013 – although its 2021 figure of just 735 units with a 0.7 per cent market share in the sub-$40,000 small vehicle segment is a significant fall from grace.
The Focus ST took second place at this year’s MOTOR Sports Car of the Year
Locally, Ford has trimmed down the Focus lineup to its sole flagship ST variant after reducing the range to just three grades in 2020, owing to the aforementioned declining sales of the entry- and mid-spec offerings over the years – recording just 83 sales so far this year.
Although the facelifted Focus ST was slated to hit local shores earlier this year, production issues have delayed its arrival, with the Saarlouis plant pushing back production of the updated hot hatch until this month .
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Keyword: Ford Focus to be axed by 2025