Ford Focus ST sales SOAR since ST diesel arrived

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The Ford Focus ST has seen sales grow by more than 270 per cent after Ford revamped the ST and offered a diesel Focus ST for the first time in 2014.

Much of the performance Focus talk of late has been, quite rightly, focussed on the new Focus RS, but while that’s been going on the latest Ford Focus ST has been quietly putting in some stellar sales figures, with sales so far in 2015 up by 270 per cent.

Ford are reporting they’ve flogged 6,700 STs so far this year compared to just 2,460 for the whole of last year, so it looks like offering an ST diesel hasn’t stolen sales from the petrol ST but simply grown the market., Which must please Ford no end.

The petrol ST is still the biggest seller with 55 per cent share of the sales, but the ST diesel’s 45 per cent share means Ford seems to have flogged an ST to more than 3,000 customers who wouldn’t have considered the petrol ST. And now Ford are planning to widen the appeal of the St diesel with a new dual-clutch PowerShift gearbox.

Ford Focus ST diesel gets six-speed dual-clutch PowerShift gearbox

Yes, you can now order the ST diesel with Ford’s decent dual-clutch gearbox – with first customer deliveries in early 2016 – which means you’ll be able to leave the cogs to shift themselves when you’re stuck in traffic.

But the addition of the dual-clutch ‘box also means you can still have fun in manual mode, and the upside is an improvement in performance, with the dual-clutch equipped ST getting to 62mph in 7.7 seconds – 0,4 seconds quicker than the manual car – making it Ford’s quickest diesel ever.

Whether 2016 will see sales of the ST moderate as those lusting after a performance Focus jump in to an RS, remains to be seen. But for now, the Focus ST is a bit of a success story for Ford.