Steve Odell, Ford’s Executive Vice President of global marketing, sales and service has confirmed there are further RS models in the pipeline – designed to sit alongside the upcoming flagship Focus RS hot hatch.
“The RS brand is really valuable,” he told Auto Express. “People race it. People collect it. I believe there is room to expand.”
Speaking on the eve of Ford’s home motor show in Detroit, Odell refused to elaborate on exactly which models would benefit from the RS moniker – but hinted we’d see production models in the future.
• Ford RS: a history of fast Fords
However, as we reported last year, a Ford Fiesta RS seems a likely first candidate, with up to 250bhp from a 1.6-litre turbocharged EcoBoost engine. Further models could include the Mondeo and even the Kuga – building on the compact SUV’s already fine handling chassis.
Odell clearly values Ford’s newly introduced performance car range, and appeared hugely enthusiastic about future fast Fords.
“People are now talking about Mustang as an image leader,” he said. “GT helps us prove our tech, too, and will flow back to our production cars.”
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He refused to suggest RS would ever feature as a standalone brand, though. “Ford is the brand,” he told us. “When we went out and said ‘Transit is a brand, Focus is a brand,’ – we did ourselves a disservice. Ford is the brand.”
Do you think Ford should build further RS models? Or stick with the bonkers Focus RS? Let us know in the comments below…