Ford Performance Promises to be New United Front for Blue Oval Excitement

High-speed performance cars convey an international language. Through the emission of sound from a sports car`s exhaust, the translation more efficient than any program on with Rosetta Stone software is realized. Despite the internationally recognized sound of performance, not all speed demons on four wheels have a voice in every major country in the world. Some cars are delayed travel to continents while others are created to satisfy a specific country (though envied across the planet). In a time where reaching a global market is becoming more important for auto companies, performance cars must become world travelers. The Nissan Skyline/GTR was denied to North Americans until the 2008. On the opposite side of the coin, the North American staple Ford Mustang featured a limited international presence until the introduction of the 2015 model year vehicle. Along with the Mustang, Ford's organization of their region performance entities will insure a single sport model can roam the Interstate, Autobahn or the Trans-Canada Highway in the future.

An all-new performance division, Ford Motor Company is consolidating their Ford Racing, SVT (Special Vehicle Team) and Team RS operations into a single, dedicated group. Ford Performance will become the universal organization not only for the United States but for the global marketplace. Managing street and race track activities, Ford Performance will be afforded a full array of resources in the pursuit of enhancing vehicle momentum. Aerodynamics, powertrain, electronics and weight reduction are some of the areas where Ford Performance specialists will be seeking advantages against their competition. Mercedes-Benz had long unified its performance behind AMG while more recently Nissan announced the wider use of their NISMO brand name in motorsports and high-performance products. Ford Performance will maintain engineering services across the world as well as an all-new American-based technical centre in Charlotte, North Carolina.

A special vehicle team with an increased global view, Ford Performance creations will be built for a wider distribution. Among the first of what will be 12 or more Ford Performance products to be accessible on a wide world market is the upcoming Ford Focus RS. The RS products have been one of the sought-after by North American motorists with a passion for super sport compacts. With specs and designs yet to be publicly unveiled, it could be said safely the new Ford Focus RS is going to outperform the Focus ST model. For its traditional European audiences of the Focus RS, they were last accustomed to a 301-horsepower vehicle capable of blitzing from 0 to 100 kilometers per hour in 5.9 seconds. “To earn the RS badge, the vehicle has to be a no-compromise driver’s car that can deliver exceptional performance on the track when required while providing excellent every day driving,” said Ford's group vice president of Global Product Development Raj Nair.

The new Focus RS is likely to be unveiled sometime next year. Following the introduction of the first globally available Ford Focus RS, the remainder of vehicles arriving from the Ford Performance team are expected for the course of the next five years.

Information and photo source: Ford Motor Company

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