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NEW FORD FIESTA TO GO GLOBAL To launch a new car to the international media with the headlines that ‘The Ford Fiesta, is the most significant global product since the Model T was launched exactly 100 years ago’ and ‘The new Fiesta heralds the future for Ford product development’ – are powerful statements. The new Fiesta is the first product of Ford’s new Global Product Development System (GPDS) and has been designed and developed to meet the differing needs of customers as diverse as Western and Eastern European, North and South America, China, Australia and South Africa. Ford said this week at the Fiesta’s international press launch that the new GPDS process will dictate the future of Ford product development. The company has a ‘One Ford’ vision of a single, global company designing and building cars for a single, global customer base, not divided by regional or national borders. However says Ford it is not ‘a one size fits all situations’. Each model range, whilst using the same core design, will have specific changes to the engine line-up, suspension settings, trim and equipment levels and pricing to meet local market conditions. Initially the new Fiesta will be built in Cologne, Germany, Valencia Spain and Nanjing, China and with other plants likely to based in the USA and Asia. Ford said the new Fiesta will be built in three Continents but sold in five Ford would give no indication of their worldwide sales aspirations for the all new Focus but John Fleming, President and Chief Executive Officer, Ford of Europe said recently, “Over the past 32 years Fiesta has consistently been top of the list of Europe’s best selling cars. Over 12 million have been sold, 400,000 of them in 2007”. In the future Fiesta will become Ford’s largest selling model range worldwide. In the UK 3.4 million Fiestas have been sold since 1977, 103,000 were sold last year and in 2009 it is likely to be in the region of 104,000. In the first seven months of this year nearly 60,000 have been registered making it currently the UK’s fourth best selling model range after the Ford Focus and Vauxhall’s Corsa and Astra models. Ford say the Fiesta is the UK’s best selling retail car with 63% of registrations being to private buyers. Roelant de Waard, Chairman and Managing Director for Ford of Britain said this week, “It is a real joy for me to work at the Ford Motor Company at the present because we have such a good range of new vehicles ranging from the S-Max, Mondeo, Focus, now Fiesta and soon the new Ka.” “As for Fiesta we expect the sales split between three and five-door models to remain at the 50/50 level, 73% will be petrol versions with the 1.25-litre being the most popular engine. We think the new Fiesta will attract 33% of conquest customers. Our target audience is 25 to 34 year olds and the average age of our existing Fiesta owners is 46 years of age.” He added, “The Zetec models will be the main selling version taking 35% of sales with Style and Style + each taking 24% of sales and the top Titanium models around 10%. I expect the ECOnetic version to achieve 3,000 registrations in a full year.” “Although the mainstream models are marginally more expensive than the outgoing range the industry predictions are that the new Fiesta residual values will rise on average across the range by £1,000 over the 3-year/60,000 period and to further lower running costs the new insurance ratings start at just 1E and the highest rating is only 6E.” The all-new Fiesta ‘supermini’ size three and five- door hatchbacks go on sale in the UK during October priced from £8,695, £155 less than the outgoing equivalent current starter model. Fuel frugal ECOnetic versions which are exempt from road tax will be priced from £11,845 and sporty and luxury versions start from £12,095. There are Studio, Style, Style+, Zetec, Zetec S, Titanium and ECOnetic levels of specification with four petrol and two diesel engine choices. The new and revised power units will annually save over 11,000 tonnes of CO2 across Europe compared to the previous Fiesta say Ford. With a higher quality and specification the new Fiesta is on average £340 more expensive than the version it replaces and Ford says all models have improved fuel economy and lower emissions. Ford said the new Fiesta is ‘our smallest large car’. It virtually has the same footprint as the outgoing models but they are 40kg lighter, 55% per cent of the bodyshell is made of high strength steel and there is a 10% increase in body stiffness. Views It may have the same compact footprint but the all-new Fiesta, destined to be sold for the first time globally and to become Ford’ best selling model range has improved space, better specification greater safety and really smart Kinetic styling. It will meet the demands of a hue range of customers and will be a serious proposition for UK customers considering down-sizing. These people want the looks, the feel and the specification of a larger car but in a smaller package at lower prices. Prices range from £8,695 up to £13,695 and a long list of extra cost options, not necessarily needed, will push the prices higher and it will cost an extra £300 for the Electronic Stability Programme which should be fitted as standard. When I counted up the number of models in the all new Fiesta range which make their debut in UK dealerships in October there are 40 different variants to choose from. These are made up of three and five-door versions and sales are traditionally split 50/50 between the two body styles. There are revised or new four petrol and two diesel engine options. The petrol engines are expected main selling 1.25-litre 60PS and 82PS units plus the 1.4-litre 96PS engine and the all-new 1.6-litre 120PS powerplant. The TDCi diesel engines are 1.4-litre 68PS and a 1.6-litre 90PS units. In addition there are the three and five-door 1.6-litre TDCi ECOnetic thrifty fuel and CO2 saving variants. Manual and automatic transmissions are also in the line-up. Not all engines are offered with each specification. Studio specification is the headline grabbing starter price at £8,695 but it is expected that only two per cent of all-new Fiesta sales will be for this specification. It is offered only in three door body form with 1.25-litre petrol and 1.4-litre TDCi engine options but has body coloured bumpers, Intelligent Protection System, reach and rake-adjustable steering and power mirrors as standard.
Style + from £10,395 adds the comfort and convenience of air conditioning and Quickclear windscreen. Anticipated to account for 50% of all-new Fiesta sales, Style and Style + offer a choice of engines including 1.25 and 1-4-litre Duratec petrol with a choice of power outputs. Zetec S from £12,595 has subtle sports styling additions, including five-spoke, 16-inch alloy wheels, projector headlamps, front fog lamps, sports spoiler and bumper skirts. This theme is continued on the inside with a leather steering wheel, unique sports gear knob and sports seats creating a focused driving environment. Standard equipment adds a trip computer, side airbags and air conditioning. The Zetec S has the all-new 1.6-litre, 120PS Duratec Ti-VCT petrol engine, but will also be available with the 1.6-litre 90PS TDCi turbodiesel engine. Zetec from £10,995 and Titanium from £12,095 have a ‘premium’ look and feel, with chrome surround to the grille and side windows, front fog lamps, leather steering wheel and air conditioning. Zetec adds a traditional luxury feel with chrome, finished with 15-inch alloy wheels and projector headlamps, while Titanium brings a contemporary look to this equipment level with higher contrast materials, such as dark gloss surfaces and bright metal accents. Both models offer a broad spectrum of engines, with Duratec petrols available in 1.25, 1.4 and 1.6-litre and Duratorq TDCi diesels in either 1.4 or 1.6-litre, with a choice of power outputs. ECOnetic versions are priced from £11,845 and use a 1.6-litre TDCi turbodiesel unit tuned for economy, lowered suspension and low rolling resistance tyres to achieve low emissions of 98g/km making it exempt from the UK road fund duty. Lighter in weight but stronger and with a stiffer body feels and looks a much improved car and you can bet it will be near, or at, the top of all the Car of the Year awards and competitions. The overall styling whether it is three or five-door with its rising waistline giving it an aerodynamic wedge shape with a mixture of Kinetic muscular and angular styling lines makes the new Fiesta look larger than the outgoing version even though the overall length is more or less the same at 3,958mm. It really is a very pleasing modern car to look at and quite distinctive. Better still it looks expensive and upmarket. The three-door models look sportier but the five-door models are in real life more practical. Inside it looks and feels the same. A nice combination of textures and materials and the upper centre console Ford is very proud off. It takes on the design of a mobile phone and all the functions are quite logical once you have taken a few minutes to find your way around the system. On the down-side the folding rear seats do not quite fold flat, the back of the rear seats is metal rather than having a carpet covering and there is no front passenger’s side roof grab handle. The boot capacity is a reasonable 295-litres if you choose to have the car with a puncture repair kit or 281-litres with the no cost option spare wheel fitted. With the rear seat folded there is up to 979-litres of cargo space. The new all-electric power steering is perfectly weighted, precise and gives good feedback. It is light at low speeds and gets heavier the faster the car is driven. The suspension is first rate and has been redesigned to give a big-car capability of ironing out bumps potholes and tarmac ripples. Grip is generally superb although there is some bodyroll in the tyre walls from the skinnier section tyres. The larger wheels and wider tyres offered by the more up-range models perform better. During the international press launch test drive in Italy we had the chance to sample just two of the engines on offer. The all new 1.6-litre, 120PS petrol unit and the 1.6-litre 90PS TDCi diesel unit. To get our hands on the likely best selling 1.25 82PS petrol engine and others we will have to wait until the cars arrive in the UK. In brief the new 1.6-litre petrol engine is a willing unit, free revving and being low geared generally very responsive and good to drive at low speeds in town traffic for instance. Maximum torque is 152Nm at 4,050 so it needs to be worked hard to get the best out of it on the open road. Under test this engine returned 31.7mpg. I think the likely best selling 1.25-litre petrol unit will feel a bit ‘weedy’ compared to this unit. Pick of the two engines on this occasion, and I suspect overall, is the 1.6-litre 90PS TDCi turbodiesel unit. Although the power output is less than the 1.6 petrol unit, the 204Nm of torque from 1,750 rpm makes it very flexible, responsive and overall a nicer model to drive and it returned 51.6mpg during some fairly hard driving. It would be my choice as would the five-door body style, probably with the best selling Zetec specification. MILESTONES. Ford Fiesta 1.6 TDCi 90 Zetec. Price: £13,095. Engine: 1.6-litre four cylinder TDCi common rail turbodiesel, 90PS and 204Nm, of torque from 1,750rpm. Performance: 109mph, 0-62mph 11.9 seconds, 67.3mpg (51.6mpg actual), CO2 110g/km, VED Band B £35. Insurance group: 4E. For: Great looks, big car feel and ride comfort, surefooted handling, great to drive, well designed interior, excellent fuel economy, low CO2 emissions, cheap road tax and lower insurance costs, good price. Miles Better News Agency
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