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Ford Focus ST is dead – bring on the 2011 Ford Focus ST

The Ford Focus ST Yes, Ford’s Championship League hot Focus – the Ford Focus ST - falls foul of Euro 5 emissions which come in to force in January, so it joins cars like the Civic Type R and the Mazda RX-8 in being confined to the history book of motoring with its 5-pot 2.5 litre lump – which also did sterling service in the Focus RS and the Focus RS500 - failing to keep up with the regulator’s pen. Bur fear not, although you’ll have to wait probably until 2012 (or at least late in to 2011) to get a look at the 2012 Focus RS, the 2011 Ford Focus ST will be here even before the last rites have been read for the current ST; the new 2011 Focus ST bows in at Paris in just over a month’s time. By all accounts the 2011 Focus ST is going to come equipped with performance comparable to the current RS rather than the current ST.

VW to announce Italdesign takeover on Tuesday

Volkswagen will announce Tuesday that it will take a 90 percent stake in Italdesign Giugiaro S.p.A, people familiar with the matter told Automotive News Europe. The Giugiaro family will retain 10 percent in the Italian design house that is famous for styling cars such as the first-generation VW Golf. VW plans to acquire control of Italdesign to help reach its goal of becoming the world's largest automaker by 2018 with sales of 10 million vehicles a year.

Skoda number one for customer service

There’s seemingly no end in sight for the rise and continued rise of the Skoda brand. Fresh from the Superb and Yeti being named as the UK’s top two most satisfying cars to own, Skoda has now been named the number one automotive brand for customer service. The company topped the automotive tables in July’s UK Customer Satisfaction Index Summary (UKCSI), produced by the Institute of Customer Service.