Focus RS to come to America?!?

On again, off again. The 305bhp Ford Focus RS, which has every EuroSnob hot hatch enthusiast in America foaming at the mouth like Cujo, might be coming stateside after all.  Automotive News claims that Ford's Advanced Product Creation and Global Performance Director, Hermann Salenbauch, is gauging public opinion on US interest of the über-hatch for importation to the US.

"How much do they like it? Is it really what they want? We are pretty confident that it is," says Hermann.  Well, DUH.  Not every blue oval lover in the states is utterly enamored with the Mustang GT.  Some of us like fat wads of turbocharged torque, tight independently sprung chassis, and hatchback practicality.  I mean, VW sells every R32 they can import without a noticeable advertising campaign, and they're quite pricey for a hatchback ($30k+.)

The Focus RS, which uses a tuned version of Volvo's lovely turbo 5-cylinder engine, is based on the C1 Focus chassis, which currently isn't sold in the US - much to the chagrin of hatchback enthusiasts here.  In fact, Ford doesn't even sell a Focus hatch in the US any more - it was ditched for a rather ugly coupe during the unfortunate facelift.  The Focus RS could represent a niche product for the US, and considering there are already a handful of cars for sale in the US based on the C1 chassis (Mazda3, Volvo S40/V50/C70/C30), legalization for crash testing couln't be that hard.

So let's keep our fingers crossed for some US Focus RS action!