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Ford will deliver more than 12 new performance vehicles for global enthusiasts through 2020, as the company announced today its new global Ford Performance team. The vehicles include an all-new Focus RS that will be available to customers in major markets around the world for the first time. It is part of Ford’s plan to deliver even more performance vehicles, parts and accessories for customers around the world more quickly.
Focus RS, which builds on a pedigree of driving excellence dating to the first Ford RS in 1968, was last introduced in 2009. Focus RS will join Ford’s existing performance lineup, including Fiesta ST, Focus ST, Shelby GT350 Mustang and F-150 Raptor. In addition to pleasing enthusiasts, these vehicles help deliver the company’s One Ford plan for profitable growth, product excellence and innovation in every part of its business. Performance vehicle sales are growing around the world – with sales up 70 percent in the United States and 14 percent in Europe since 2009.
Ford’s ST lineup, for example, is attracting younger buyers who love to drive. In the United States, more than 65 percent of ST customers come from outside the Ford brand, and more than 50 percent of Ford performance vehicle owners’ next vehicle purchase is a Ford. Millennials are purchasing ST vehicles at a rate twice that of other Ford-branded vehicles. Powering performance vehicles, such as Fiesta ST and Focus ST, is Ford’s award-winning EcoBoost engine range. Since the introduction of the EcoBoost engine in 2009, Ford has produced more than 2 million EcoBoost engines globally.
For instance, the 3.5-liter EcoBoost engine in the IMSA TUDOR Championship series powers a record-setting Daytona racing prototype sports car, as well as Ford cars, trucks and utility vehicles. Another example of this technology transfer can be found in the recently revealed Shelby GT350 Mustang, which goes on sale next year in the United States and Canada. Aerodynamic innovations developed through Ford’s investment in racing were applied to the front end of the new Shelby GT350 Mustang, helping improve downforce in the car as well as cooling. Ford considers racing an important proving ground for cultivating passionate engineers – allowing them to innovate in top-level competition as they face challenges that require successful solutions in very compressed time frames.
source : Flywheel
