Ford Focus ST-3 coming to Oz

Ford Australia has announced a new premium version of the Ford Focus ST hot hatch.

It may not be a born-again Ford Focus RS hyper-hatch with an all-wheel drive drift mode, but the 2022 Ford Focus ST-3 will bring a bit more razzle dazzle to the blue oval brand’s unloved small car for a relatively small price premium.

Priced at $47,990 plus on-road costs – just $3100 more than the standard Focus ST – and adding extra equipment led by electrically-adjustable and heated Recaro sports seats with improved side bolsters and lumbar support, the ST-3 will arrive in Australia from around November this year.

The 2022 Ford Focus ST-3 will be offered exclusively with a seven-speed automatic transmission and the same , the Focus ST-3 uses the same brawny (206kW/420Nm) 2.3-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol engine as regular Ford Focus ST models.

But other upgrades for the small five-door hot hatch include a panoramic glass sunroof, 10-speaker Bang & Olufsen sound system with sub-woofer, head-up display, blind spot detection system with cross-traffic alert, sequential LED turn signals and adaptive LED headlights.

The advanced LED headlight system uses a front-mounted camera to detect curves in the road and turn the headlights and will also shape its beam to improve vision, such as widening its illumination at junctions.

Standard carryover features include an 8.0-inch touch-screen infotainment system with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay integration, dual-zone climate control, wireless smartphone charging and push-button engine start.

Performance equipment includes Pirelli P Zero tyres shod to 19-inch alloy wheels, bigger 330mm front brake rotors (302mm rear), adaptive suspension damping, a limited-slip front differential, launch control and performance shift light.

The new ST-3 should give Ford Australia’s only mainstream passenger car (excluding the Fiesta ST and the Mustang sports car) a much needed image boost.

Sales of the Ford Focus range, which for the 2021 model year has been slashed to just three hatch variants have dropped by almost 42 per cent so far this year – from 620 units in the first quarter of 2020 to just 356.

That’s a bigger drop than the 18 per cent decline for the overall small-car segment, which continues to be led by the Toyota Corolla – down just 4.2 per cent with 7381 sales in the same period.

Meantime the second most popular small car in Australia, the Hyundai i30, has gained market share, increasing sales from 6046 to 6676 units and closing in on the Corolla.

How much does the 2021 Ford Focus cost?
Active – $30,990
ST-Line – $30,990
ST – $44,890
ST-3 – $47,990
* Prices exclude on-road costs