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Mondeo / Fiesta
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Ford Fiesta
New Ford Fiesta is good, but is it good enough? |
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| The new billion dollar Ford Fiesta supermini is bigger and better than its predecessor and it needs to be. The new Fiesta will be launched across Europe in April, just when the sector will be awash with some brilliant new rivals, and plenty of impressive old ones. In the Spring, European car buyers in the market for basic transportation will be spoilt for choice. As well as the all-new Fiesta, they will be able to choose from other brand new offerings like the Volkswagen Polo, the Seat Ibiza, the Citroen C3, and the Honda Jazz. Later in the year the Koreans will be entering this market sector with the Hyundai TB and the Daewoo Kalos. Early in 2003 Nissan will launch its new Micra. If you add in cars already available like the Peugeot 206, the Renault Clio and the Skoda Fabia, potential buyers can be forgiven for going dizzy with indecision. Focus, Mondeo Ford, despite desperate problems in the U.S. culminating in 35,000 layoffs and much red ink, has made great strides in Europe in the last three years with its new cars. First the rakish looking Focus stunned buyers used to Fords conservative styling. Then the bigger Mondeo impressed with its handsome features and quality build, although it looked disconcertingly similar to the highly successful VW Passat. Ford says that the key to long-term success in Europe is its bottom-end of the market cars. “Small cars are crucial to the success of any volume car manufacturer in Europe,” said Ford of Europe Chairman David Thursfield. “You cannot truly succeed as a mainstream brand in Europe if you don’t get your small cars right. Our challenge is to deliver a new generation of small cars that will delight our customers and contribute to our bottom line profitability,” Thursfield said. Weird looks Ford has made a rod for its own back though with the styling of the Fiesta. Maybe because its target market is so wide - low-budget buyers from 17 to 80-plus - Ford has been more concerned with avoiding offense rather than going for excitement or style. Anyone looking for stop-you-dead-in-your-tracks beauty will be disappointed. From the side the body looks strange, as though the bulbous roof at the front end has been randomly joined to some other design teams rear end. From the front and the rear the car looks pleasant enough. Much bigger The Fiesta is substantially bigger than the car it replaces. The wheelbase is 40mm longer, it is 143mm taller and 49mm wider. The seats are mounted higher than the old model and this creates a roomier feel, with good driver and front passenger space and adequate legroom in the back. The boot is well shaped and can squeeze in 284 litres of luggage with the rear seats in place. With seats folded you can carry 613 litres. The design of the dash-board, controls and instruments was first class and quality of the materials top-notch. Ford said safety was also a priority and the car incorporates the so-called Intelligent Protection System first introduced in the Mondeo. This includes air-bags for the driver and front seat passengers, and an optional side and roof-mounted curtain air bags. Adding to the cars safety is its fine handling on the road. The steering is light and precise. The little car handles bumps and potholes well. The five-speed gear change is slick and accurate. So far Ford hasnt announced an automatic version. Smooth operator At the cars launch, in southern Spain in January, Ford demonstrated two engines. The 1.4 litre common rail turbo diesel, a new motor developed with Peugeot of France, is quiet and pulls the car along smartly, although hills at close to legal limits on motorways quickly eat into the car’s performance. A 1.4 litre 16 valve petrol engine was sprightly, but sounded a little harsh under acceleration. When the car is launched, there will be two more engines a 1.6 litre 16 valve, and a lower tech 1.4 litre 8 valve engine, and this is an area where Ford reckons it can start scoring points against the opposition. “Fiestas real world fuel consumption reductions up to 10 percent over the preceding model contribute directly to the bottom line in the small-car ownership budget,” according to Ford. Ford reckons that if you drive 20,000 kilometres a year with the 1.6 16 valve engine you would save 182 euros in fuel a year, and 489 euros with the 1.4 litre diesel. $1 billion Ford said it has spent $500 million restructuring its plant in Cologne, Germany where it will make the Fiesta. Another $60 million has been invested in Cologne by Fiesta suppliers. The company wont say how much it spend on research and development, although industry sources reckon it must have been at least $500 million. The company is also coy about sales targets in western Europe, saying only that when all Fiesta variants are up and running it will have a maximum capacity of 405,000 a year. Ford stamped out about 300,000 old Fiestas in 2001 Ford plans to have the 5-door version available at launch and a 3-door later in the year. Also coming off the Fiesta platform will be the Fusion, which Ford has called an urban utility vehicle. The Fusion is a sport-utility vehicle with a high driving position powered by a turbo-charged 1.1-liter, three-cylinder gasoline engine. Ford knows that it will be an uphill struggle to succeed in this highly competitive sector, but if it is to be a viable long-term company the Fiesta must succeed in luring young, first time buyers. The most potent weapon in Fords arsenal will be price, which the company is keeping to itself until closer to the launch. The industry expects the new Fiesta to start at around 11,700 euros. Fiesta specification: Duratorq TDCi 1.4 litre (common rail turbo diesel) Fuel consumption 4.3 litres per 100 kilometres (65.7mpg) CO2 emissions 114 grams per kilometre 0-100kph (62mph) 14.9 seconds Top speed 164kph (101mph) Duratec 1.4 litre 80bhp petrol 6.4 litres per 100kph (44.1mpg) C02 157 grams/km 0-100kph 13.2 seconds Top speed 168kph (104mph) Duratec 1.6 litre 100bhp petrol 6.6 litres/100 (42.8mpg) CO2 157 grams/km 0-100kph 10.6 seconds Top speed 185kph (114.9mph) Duratec 1.4 litre 68bhp petrol 6.2 litres/100 (45.6mpg) CO2 147 grams/km 0-100kph 15.8 seconds Top speed 158kph (98mph)
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