Consumers bought a new Ford Fiesta every two minutes on average last year, making it the best-selling small car in Europe, according to automotive data intelligence provider JATO Dynamics.
Ford last year sold 953,174 cars in the 30 European markets monitored by JATO, including 306,405 Fiestas. Ford recently announced that during 2012 more than 1.4 million Ford vehicles were sold across all of the 51 European markets in which it operates.
The Fiesta also was the best-selling B-segment car (sub-compact) globally for the first nine months of 2012, with more than 560,000 Fiestas sold worldwide, according to the latest Polk new vehicle registration data.
“The Fiesta had a fantastic 2012, both in Europe and across the world,” said Roelant de Waard, vice president, Marketing, Sales and Service, Ford of Europe. “This iconic car has come to define what customers desire from a small car – style, quality, efficiency and great technology.”
Ford has sold more than 15 million Fiestas worldwide since the vehicle first went into production in 1976. The Fiesta now has been the top-selling small car in Europe for three out of the past four years. During that period, more than 1.7 million Fiestas have been sold in Europe and 2.1 million globally.
The U.K. was the most successful European market for Fiesta in 2012, with 109,250 vehicles registered according to Ford figures. Across Europe, Frozen White proved the most popular paint colour among Fiesta customers.
Ford is currently launching the new Fiesta in Europe – which is coming to dealerships now – the new model is redesigned inside and out and offers the 1.0-litre EcoBoost petrol engine – the 2012 “International Engine of the Year”. An ECOnetic Technology version powered by a 1.6-litre Duratorq TDCi diesel engine achieves 87 g/km CO2.**
The new Fiesta also offers MyKey, a Ford-exclusive technology that allows parents to encourage safer driving and limit their teenager’s exposure to risk at the wheel. Ford also has equipped new Fiesta with Ford SYNC, a voice-activated in-car connectivity system, and SYNC Emergency Assistance, which directly connects vehicle occupants to local emergency services operators after an accident.
In addition, Fiesta offers Active City Stop, which can help avoid or mitigate low-speed collisions.
“The new Fiesta has some big shoes to fill in 2013 but is perfectly equipped to do so,” said de Waard. “Being acclaimed as Europe’s best-loved small car in 2012 is a great achievement and we thank all of our customers who continue to put their faith in the Fiesta.”
This is the Honda Gear, a concept small car introduced, with no small amount of surprise, at the Montreal motor show this week.With all eyes across the lake on Detroit (where Honda was showing off its NSX and Urban SUV concepts) the Gear kinda snuck in under the radar a little.
Now, so far, Honda has not made any official comment about the concept's production chances, nor whether or not it's even meant to be viewed as styling signpost for the next Jazz, but what we do know is that it's about Fiesta-sized, and designed to be both simple and functional and yet customisable with lots of options.
Explaining the Gear's purpose in Montreal, Dave Marek, Design Director at Honda R&D Americas said “Subcompact cars are usually either utilitarian, but uninspiring or they’re fun, zippy cars that are impractical and too expensive for the Gen-Y buyer. GEAR Concept tears down those walls – it’s practical but fun, customizable, connected and affordable. Everything that young, discerning urban buyers would want in a car.”Well, what do you think? A welcome return to funky design at Honda? A hint of original Civic in that recessed grille and headlights? Would you chop your Jazz in for one?
Price as tested: POA+ Slick styling, brilliant engine, classy cabin, handling– 100ps and 125ps EcoBoost versions won't be cheap= Updates put the Fiesta right back at the top of the small car treeCinecitta Studios lies just on the outskirts of Rome and has been home, over the years, to productions as famous os Ben-Hur, Cleopatra and The Gangs Of New York. When choosing to launch an updated version of the Ford Fiesta, so bursting with new technology that it could not be more bang up to date, it might seem odd to have it sit in front of a fake recreation of the Roman Senate. But hey, maybe Ford has just looking for a little reflected glory from the likes of Charlton Heston, Sophia Loren, Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor.
Certainly, the updated Fiesta looks glamorous enough to bestride a film set. That new grille (very Aston Martin-ish), lights and bumpers have really freshened up the shape.
Inside, much effort has gone into improving cabin quality and the results are palpably good. Before, you would have had to place the Fiesta just behind the likes of the Volkswagen Polo in the interior quality stakes. Now it's neck-and-neck.
From the mobile phone and media player-linking SYNC system (that recently debuted on the new B-Class mini MPV) to a new function called MyKey (long since on sale in American Fords) which allows nervous parents to limit the speed, audio volume and other functions of the car when their teenage offspring have borrowed it, the Fiesta can now be specified to levels that would have seemed ludicrous when the 1977 original was launched. A self-braking city safety system, a function that automatically phones the emergency services in the event of an accident and niceties such as a reversing camera and an automated parking system are now all available, for a price.
Indeed, you'd have to ask if Ford is backing the wrong horse – investing in high-tech gizmos at a time when most buyers are looking more closely at the bottom line and rivals like Dacia are arriving with arrestingly low-balled prices. I asked; Ford said no. All its research points to customers wanting more and more technology in the car.
Ford's award-winning 1.0-litre, three-cylinder EcoBoost engine has already found happy homes in the Focus and B-Max, but the Fiesta is surely the car best suited to the lightweight, frugal, free-revving little unit. For the first time, you'll be able to buy an EcoBoost unit that doesn't use a turbocharger, and the new 65bhp and 80bhp versions of the engine will eventually replace the ageing 1.25-litre Yahamha-developed unit at the base of the Fiesta range. Punchier 100bhp and 125bhp versions, with a turbo, will be rarer by far in Irish dealerships but sadly, that's all that Ford made available for us to drive on this event.
I say sadly, actually it was terrific. In 123bhp form (a version which still scores a 99g/km Co2 rating and can, claims Ford, average better than 65mpg) the turbo EcoBoost almost qualifies as a junior hot hatch. There's a touch of off-boost lethargy below 1,900rpm but after that the little engine revs smoothly and crisply to the 6,500rpm redline and theres's a thick seam of effortless 170Nm torque to revel in on the way there. Even with just a five-speed gearbox, it's an effortless drive and maybe it's just me, but there seems to be a hint of Porsche-like roar as you pass 4,000rpm.
As ever, the Fiesta's chassis is up for any challenges you throw at it, and the updated electric power steering is better than ever – firmly sprung and rewardingly talkative, it goes beautifully with the Fiesta's neutral balance and grip. Even on roads streaming with heavy rain and peppered with aggressive Roman traffic, the Fiesta never felt less than confidence inspiring, and frequently felt just damned good fun.
Alongside the EcoBoost units and the carry-over 1.25 petrol, Ford will also offer a new 1.5-litre TDCI diesel and two updated versions of the existing 1.6-litre diesel, the most efficient of which emits just 87g/km. Prices will start from €15,550 for the most basic 1.25 and you can expect the 99bhp EcoBoost turbo to clock in around the €17,500 mark.
Bringing the test car back to Cinecitta was a slightly bizarre experience what with having to thread the Fiesta between sets, semi-abandoned props and the occasional film-set statue that had be placed next to a car park. There was even a complete TGV-style train, marooned on tracks that go nowhere, presumably to give future Cary Grants and Tom Cruises a convincing set for railway-based action.
Thankfully, the Fiesta is no film-set fake. It’s a car of true style and substance, with a delightful chassis and, with the brilliant EcoBoost engine, real star quality.
Ford Fiesta 1.0 EcoBoost 125ps
Price as tested: TBA
Price range: €15,550 to €TBA
Capacity: 999cc
Power: 123bhp
Torque: 170Nm
Top speed: 170kmh
0-100kmh: 9.4sec
Economy: 4.2l-100km (67mpg)
CO2 emissions: 99g/km
Road Tax Band: A2. €180
Euro NCAP rating: 5-star; 91% adult, 86% child, 65% pedestrian, 71% safety assist.
