Ford Reportedly Planning to Drop Fiesta RS

Yet another model that might bite the dust under the strong pressure of the economic recession... It may seem like American automaker Ford is planning to cancel the sporty hatchback Fiesta RS, citing the economic turmoil and the difficult market conditions, as the main reasons. In an interview for UK's evo Magazine, Jost Captio of Ford's Team RS said the company may discontinue the project even before it enters production, so the report may be actually true.

However, there are still some factors that still allow us to dream about an RS flavor of the new generation Fiesta. For instance, Fiesta RS is one of the most popular models in the European Fiesta lineup and, despite its high price, Ford may still be able to maintain sales on the floating line. On the other hand, sporty hatches have only been popular in Europe so investing in a high-performance model addressed to a single market doesn't make sense.

In addition, Ford may indeed cancel the RS badge as the company has already unveiled a number of aftermarket packages that could bring a bit more power to the standard Fiesta. The Mountune package and the Zetec S packages are surely the best examples in this matter, as they are both compatible with the base Fiesta and available through various authorized dealerships.

Still in the early rumor stage, the folks over at MotorAuthority.com write that a potential Ford Fiesta RS may arrive in 2010 and is likely to be powered a 2.0-liter turbo four-cylinder engine developing around 200 horsepower (149 kW). But, once again, this is only pure speculation so we're still waiting for some official details coming from Ford.