'Tis The Season To Buy Ford's New Focus RS Edition Christmas Special

Ford is celebrating the holidays by launching a limited edition Focus RS in the UK, which can already be ordered from £36,295 ($48,538).

Its starting price represents a £3,530 ($4,271) premium over the entry-level hot hatch, but paying it means getting one of just 300 'Race Red Editions' that will be assembled in February and March, next year.

Finished in a festive color scheme, the new Ford Focus RS Race Red Edition features 19-inch cast-black alloy wheels, grey brake calipers, contrasting black roof, side mirror casings and rear spoiler, and is described as a "celebration" of the car as its "production nears its end", by Ford of Britain's managing director and chairman, Andy Barratt.

Alongside the visual updates, this very special compact hot hatch gets a front mechanical Quaife limited-slip differential, for improved traction and driving appeal, whose purpose is to limit the torque delivered to whichever wheel has reduced traction, and redistribute it to the wheel with better grip, to counteract the wheelspin.

Among its standard equipment, the Ford Focus RS Race Red Edition has privacy glass, rear parking sensors, electric folding mirrors, Recaro seats with part-leather upholstery, carbon fiber interior trim, cruise control with speed limiter, heated steering wheel, Active City Stop, KeyFree system, and others.