Ford Motor Co. said Thursday it will end production of the popular Focus RS hot hatch on April 6 after a limited run of 50 "Heritage Edition" cars to be sold in the U.K.

Ford announced last year that the Focus RS would go out of production in 2018 but did not provide a timeframe.

The automaker builds the Focus RS in Saarlouis, Germany, for global markets. It brought the car to the U.S. in the spring of 2016 as part of an expansion of its Ford Performance portfolio.

The 350-hp, all-wheel-drive, five-door hot hatch comes with a 2.3-liter EcoBoost four-cylinder engine mated to a six-speed manual transmission.

Ford plans to end Focus production in North America this year when it retools its Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne to build the Ranger pickup and Bronco SUV. It will import the next-generation Focus from China for the U.S.

U.S. sales of the Focus fell 6.2 percent to 158,385 last year, according to the Automotive News Data Center.

The "Heritage Edition" RS will come in deep orange and feature gray brake calipers behind black forged alloy wheels.

It's timed to the 50th anniversary of Ford's Escort nameplate in the U.K.

"Ford to end Focus RS output in April" originally appeared in Automotive News on 2/15/2018

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