2012 Ford Focus Coupe coming – the new Ford Capri

The Ford Focus Coupe 2012 - The Capri returns

Back in May 2009 we ran a story on the return of the Ford Capri which we believed would be based on the 2011 Ford Focus and bring the coupe back in to Ford’s line-up for the first time in too long. And it looks like the story was bang on the money.

The new Ford Capri – which looks like it will be badged the Ford Focus Coupe – will be the new Ford Focus three-door; a hot coupe to take on cars like the VW Scirocco. Based on a stretched and widened Focus ST (and the reason the Focus ST comes only as a five door), the Focus Coupe will not just be wider but lower too for a much more aggresive stance.

Power – which we reported in 2009 would come from Ford’s latest EcoBoost lump – will indeed be courtesy of the EcoBoost, but the full-fat 247bhp rather than the 200bhp version we expected. That will produce performance close to that of the old Focus RS and leave the promise of a more extreme Focus Coupe RS to come.

The joy of the Focus Coupe – and the tempting promise of the Focus Coupe RS – is that our friends across the Pond will also get to play. They are already going to get the new Focus ST – the 2011 Ford Focus is, after all, a Ford ‘World Car’ – so they should see the Focus Coupe land on their shores about the time we do – sometime mid-2012, if all goes to plan – shortly after the 2012 Focus ST hits the roads.

And why are we so sure that America will also get the Focus Coupe? Simple, the plan is to launch the 2012 Focus Coupe at the Detroit Motor Show in January. And American buyers wouldn’t be best pleased if Ford launched a car at their show they couldn’t then buy.

Who’d have believed that a few years ago. The Americans queueing up to buy a Capri?

By Cars UK