If you’ve been waiting fruitlessly for word about the hot new Blue Oval hatchback you ordered, well, we at The Drive have some bad news. There’s a good chance your Ford Focus RS was bumped the 2016 to the 2017 model years, due to a delay reportedly caused by a shutdown at the German factory that builds the 350-horsepower all-wheel-drive hatch.
The Truth About Cars reports that 220 customer cars that were originally slated to be part of the 2016 model year run have been moved to the 2017 list. A spokesperson with the automaker claims that even though the cars will be listed as a different model year, “customers will experience almost no delay in delivery of their vehicle.” If true, then owners shouldn’t have all that much to worry about.
However, our interest was piqued by the part of the report claiming Ford corporate told one dealer the delay was caused by “economic turmoil in Europe,” which forced the automaker’s Saarlouis manufacturing facility to shut down. When TTAC asked Ford directly about the reasoning behind the production slowdown, a spokesperson told the blog that the automaker was unable to stay on top of production because of an intense amount of global demand for the car. It’s no secret that Europe’s economy is not in the best shape, but the discrepancy between the two accounts leaves us wondering what the true reason behind the production delay is.
After all, this isn’t the first production hiccup to be reported for Ford’s hot hatch. In recent weeks, several owners have expressed concerns over Focus RS delivery delays. Last week, an owner took to Reddit to get the word out about a Focus RS order originally placed in October 2015 that allegedly went missing after the car arrived on U.S. soil 10 weeks ago. The Drive has also heard from two other customers who reported similar delays, but have since received their orders.
The Drive has contacted Ford for comment and will update this post if we hear back.