It was just a few months ago that Ford revealed the all-new fourth-generation Focus. And a hotter ST version of the hatch has been spotted testing a couple of times already. This week, we have managed to get photos of the next-generation Focus ST that clearly shows many details previously not visible. These include the bumper and ST badging up front, twin exhaust pipes at the back and large alloys all around.

The Focus is underpinned by the Blue Oval’s new front-wheel drive platform, which already boasts better rigidity than the previous chassis. Since the ST prototype is being tested at the Nurburgring, we’re sure the engineers will tune it even better for the hot version.

Ford has not yet divulged details of the powertrain they will use in the upcoming ST. Our guess is that it will be a tweaked version of the 2.0-litre turbo four, but there are rumours that it could be a 2.3-litre turbocharged four-pot derived from the one in the outgoing Focus RS, but detuned to be in the range of 250 horsepower or so and mated to a six-speed manual transmission.

Watch this space for more information as development of the model progresses.