Photo: Ford
According to B-segment vehicle program manager Robert Stiller, the automaker couldn’t make a case for the seventh-gen subcompact hatchback in utility vehicle-hungry Unites States. The writing was on the wall for the Fiesta, though; it definitely was.
Automotive publication 0-100.ro had a chat with Stiller, with the Ford Motor Company official putting the situation as it is. In his words, “the previous model was a global Ford product, and with the new generation, we are targeting only Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. In North America, especially the U.S., China, and Latin America, the demand for such vehicles [subcompact] is declining, and we are reacting accordingly.”
The Fiesta had it coming in the United States at least, where sales have taken a 31 percent nosedive compared to the 2013 peak of 71,073 units. The latest full-year sales result speaks for itself: merely 48,807 examples. European sales aren’t at their highest either, but the Ford Motor Company has no trouble of selling 300,000 copies or so almost each and every year.
Manufactured exclusively at the automaker’s production facility in Koln, Germany for all markets, the Fiesta Mk 7 will not be offered as a sedan. Three- and five-door hatchback body styles will have to suffice because Europe, the Middle East, and Africa aren’t fond of the three-box design.
With the all-new Fiesta, the Ford Motor Company has also cleaned up the list of trim levels. The Ambiente is now gone, with the Trend now serving as the most spartan configuration of the subcompact-sized hatchback. What the Fiesta has lost down the food chain it gains at the uppermost part of the spectrum with the introduction of the crossover-inspired Active.
The Fiesta ST, meanwhile, has lost one of its cylinders and 0.1 liters displacement. Be that as it may, the 1.5-liter three-banger is sufficiently potent thanks to 200 PS and 290 Nm (197 hp; 214 lb-ft). Too bad the U.S. will miss out on the all-new Fiesta ST as well. As for the flip side, the U.S. market has gained a subcompact-sized crossover in the form of the EcoSport.
The Fiesta had it coming in the United States at least, where sales have taken a 31 percent nosedive compared to the 2013 peak of 71,073 units. The latest full-year sales result speaks for itself: merely 48,807 examples. European sales aren’t at their highest either, but the Ford Motor Company has no trouble of selling 300,000 copies or so almost each and every year.
Manufactured exclusively at the automaker’s production facility in Koln, Germany for all markets, the Fiesta Mk 7 will not be offered as a sedan. Three- and five-door hatchback body styles will have to suffice because Europe, the Middle East, and Africa aren’t fond of the three-box design.
With the all-new Fiesta, the Ford Motor Company has also cleaned up the list of trim levels. The Ambiente is now gone, with the Trend now serving as the most spartan configuration of the subcompact-sized hatchback. What the Fiesta has lost down the food chain it gains at the uppermost part of the spectrum with the introduction of the crossover-inspired Active.
The Fiesta ST, meanwhile, has lost one of its cylinders and 0.1 liters displacement. Be that as it may, the 1.5-liter three-banger is sufficiently potent thanks to 200 PS and 290 Nm (197 hp; 214 lb-ft). Too bad the U.S. will miss out on the all-new Fiesta ST as well. As for the flip side, the U.S. market has gained a subcompact-sized crossover in the form of the EcoSport.
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