Ford refreshed the Focus range and unveiled it at the 2007 Frankfurt Motor Show.
The ST version was updated as well, starting with the following year.

The 2007 Frankfurt Motor Show was the last dance before the world financial crisis struck the automotive industry. Ford already knew that hard times would follow, and it tried to enhance its product lineup before that, and it did.

The 2008 Focus ST featured wider headlights that resembled the same shape as its bigger brother, the Mondeo. It sported a wide, trapezoidal grille on the lower side of the bumper, with a thick slat for the license plate on its upper side. Ford’s designers installed flared arches that showed more muscles for the five-doors hot-hatch and emphasized the sporty character with an ST-specific roof-spoiler on top of the tailgate. Under the bumper, it mounted a diffuser with two exhausts placed on the outer sides.

Inside, the sporty image was enhanced by the front Recaro sport-bucket seats with high bolstering and dual-tone color scheme. The dashboard was mostly the same as the one from the non-facelifted version, but the three gauges placed on top of the dashboard were magnificent for any tuning enthusiast.

Under the hood, lied the same engine carried over from its predecessor. It was paired to a standard six-speed manual gearbox, and there was no automatic option.