[ZTWsquared]

(02-04-2011, 03:32 AM)Spinal Wrote: because the amount of people that would actually pay 50k for a focus you could probably count using your hands and feet. and for the same/less money you can get something with AWD - i don't know about you i'd be more inclined to get that.

Your statement above is undoubtedly true, but then again a bit of perspective changes things a bit.

In 2004 we had the second most powerful Focus available in Europe which was the ST (SVT) and although it didn't sell in huge numbers, Ford had no problem selling all that they made. And the price was about 150% the cost of the entry level Focus.

Starting 2005 all that changed because we no longer had the same Focus in Europe ... and although the 2005 ST was a good car with decent performance, it was also only available in sedan and not competitive with competitive hot hatches.

So starting with the 2012 model, with Focus on the same platform as in Europe, let's look at the numbers.

In the UK today an entry-level new Focus starts at £15,995 ... or roughly 26,000 CAD - compared to 16,000 for an entry level Focus here.

The last price I saw for an RS in the UK was £27,000 and yeah that's about $44k CAD ... but it's also just 160% of the UK entry level Focus.

So if, and I know it's a big if ... Ford of Canada could sell the RS here at 160% of the entry level Focus ... that would give us a price of just $25,600. Personally I think there'd be long waiting list for that car at that price.