Ford Executive Wants ST, RS Performance Models For Electric SUVs

Production of the Ford Fiesta (and its high-performance ST variant) ended at the Cologne Assembly plant – now known as the Cologne Electric Vehicle Center – in the summer of 2023, marking the true end of an era after five decades and 22 million units of production. This coming November, the same fate will befall the Ford Focus, as production of that model is set to end at the Saarlouis Assembly plant in Germany in November. However, the demise of those two models may not spell the end for RS and ST variants in Europe.

According to the UK’s Auto Express, there are currently no plans to launch a Ford EV model with either ST or RS badging, but there’s at least one person in The Blue Oval’s ranks that hopes such a thing will happen. That person is Ford’s European Product Marketing Chief, Jan Herzog, who told the rag that he “would love an ST or RS variant” of the company’s “EV models,” in fact.

It’s unclear if Ford will actually make and sell an EV with an RS or ST badge, but the automaker did file to trademark “EcoBeast” with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) last June, under the goods and services category of “Electric motors and engines for automobiles; powertrains for automobiles; turbochargers for automobile engines.” Ford has also been keen to develop its future all-electric performance technology via a number of impressive EV demonstrators, so that tech could wind up trickling down to one or more production models, too.

In Europe, a number of Blue Oval EVs just entered mass production as well – a list that includes the Puma Gen-E, which is an all-electric version of the popular ICE Puma. As many are well aware, the Puma ST is already part of Ford’s European lineup, so the Gen-E may perhaps be a candidate for a more performance-focused variant, too.