Ford Focus Production Ends After 27 Years

The crossover has claimed another victim, folks: the Ford Focus is dead. The final ever example of the family hatch was built on Friday at Ford’s plant in Saarlouis, Germany, per reports from Autocar. Car Throttle has reached out to Ford for official comment and will update this story when we hear back.

The model’s demise doesn’t come as a huge shock, with reports emerging last year that 2025 would spell its end in line with Ford’s plans to bolster its European EV lineup and move more towards the high-riding crossovers that are proving ever more popular in the market. But as the last model standing from the once rocksteady B, C and D-segment trio of Fiesta, Focus and Mondeo, its death feels like no less of a watershed moment.

When the first Focus arrived in 1998, its impact in a still rather conservative European hatchback market couldn’t really be overstated. After the last few iterations of Escort had been comprehensively outclassed by rivals, the original Focus represented a complete reset for Ford and caught its rivals off guard. Its blend of striking ‘New Edge’ styling and chassis smarts that saw it handle better than plenty of ostensibly sportier cars won it immediate praise.

It was an instant hit, too, quickly entering the top 10 best-sellers in Europe. Having been on sale just over a year, it became Britain’s best-selling car of 1999, a spot it would maintain for 10 years in a row. When it went on sale in North America in 2000, it swiftly became one of the US’ ten best-sellers too, making it one of a tiny handful of cars to simultaneously have a spot on the list in both Europe and America.

A second generation arrived in 2004, a third in 2010, and the outgoing fourth in 2018, each one praised in the media, popular with buyers and forming one of the de facto big three in the European C-segment market along with the VW Golf and Vauxhall Astra. That’s not to mention all the more enthusiast-friendly versions – four generations of ST, three of RS, the North American SVT model, and two World Rally Cars, the second of which won Ford two WRC titles in 2006 and 2007.

The Focus’ demise, then, is evidence of just how much the car market has changed in the last few years. While the Golf and Astra still motor on, the Ford’s death brings to an end not only nearly three decades of a brilliant family car, but over 85 years of small Ford family cars dating back to the original Anglia of 1939. With no direct successor in the pipeline, anything that does come along to continue that lineage will likely be electric and SUV-shaped. RIP, Focus – the new car market will be a strange place without you.