New Ford Focus ST hot hatch leaked

Pictures of the undisguised 2019 Ford Focus ST have surfaced online months before Blue Oval's new rival for the Volkswagen Golf GTI was planned to be unveiled.

Originally, the car-maker planned to launch the next-gen Ford Focus ST around the third quarter of 2019 but those plans are now in disarray after images of the production-ready Focus ST were leaked to

Looking a little toned down compared to the last model, the latest Ford Focus ST features a completely redesigned front bumper that incorporates a prominent honeycomb mesh grille and large front splitter.

Our first look at the side profile, meanwhile, shows new side skirts and sporty black gloss door-handles. Towards the rear of the car there's a gloss black spoiler, a redesigned rear bumper and the mandatory rear diffuser.

Interestingly, the rear view highlights the absence of the old car's trademark centre-exit rear exhaust outlets, with the new model getting a pair of more conventional quad pipes that exit either side of the diffuser.

Other highlights include a set of lightweight alloy wheels and large performance brakes that feature red-painted callipers.

Inside, there are no radical changes over the latest Ford Focus hatch, which goes on sale in Australia this month. There's a pair of ST-embroidered sports seats, a leather-wrapped steering wheel and fake carbon-fibre interior trim.

Under the bonnet, the Focus ST has already been tipped to come with the same muscular 2.3-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol engine from the current-generation 257kW Focus RS.

In the 2019 Focus ST, the turbo-four is expected to produce as much as 213kW and 440Nm -- the same outputs for the Mustang EcoBoost four-cylinder.

Like before, power will be sent to the front wheels via a six-speed manual or the option of a new dual-clutch automatic transmission.

It's thought that for the latest Focus ST engineers have worked hard to curb the old car's propensity to torque steer by developing a completely rethought suspension set-up.

Critically, handling will be improved over the stock Focus by dumping the twist-beam torsion-bar rear suspension in favour of the new Focus wagon’s four-link independent rear-end.