Earlier on this year, in July, Ford only had 11 deposits on the 2009 Focus RS. 2 months down the line, 11 deposits became over 1,000 deposits. This was helped by the world debut at the London motorshow. By comparison, Ford UK only sold 2,200 outgoing Focus RS models in 2 whole years. Paul Wilson, press officer for Ford UK said, “Almost 50%of all Ford performance products are sold in the UK and we are expecting to get around 4,000 Focus RS's in the total production run of 8,000 units”.
Although no details of available colours have been confirmed, around 40% of the applicants requested the Electric Green shade of the London show vehicle while other popular requests were Frozen White and Electric Blue. Customers can spec their RS with a luxury pack, a premium sat-nav system and leather seats.
“We’re delighted by the reaction of performance car enthusiasts to the new Focus RS and that so many want to place orders even though it will not be available until early next year,” said Roelant de Waard, Chairman and Managing Director of Ford of Britain.
According to Ford's preliminary specs, the front-wheel drive Focus RS that’s powered by a 300bhp, 2.5 litre turbocharged 5-cylinder engine is the fastest ever European Ford production car accelerating from nought to 100km/h (62mph) in under 6.0 seconds, while top speed is electronically limited to 155mph.
First deliveries are expected by Summer 2009.
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