Ford fans look away now, the Blue Oval has announced that the upcoming 2021 Ford Focus RS Mk4 project has been axed as a result of European emissions standards.

In a statement, the company said: “As a result of pan-European emissions standards, increased CO2 taxation and the high cost of developing an RS with some form of electrification for a relatively low volume of vehicles, we are not planning another RS version of the Focus.”

It’s not all bad news, though. Ford has also said that performance vehicles will feature in Europe in the shape of the ST models, with Ford Performance leading the way, there just won’t be a Focus RS. Future performance cars are highly likely to consist of hybridised engines at the very least as it looks to combat strict emissions laws.

Mountune and the like will still be around to tune the latest Mk4 Focus ST, so don’t worry too much. You’ll just have to create an RS variants yourselves…