2010 Ford Fiesta: What it means at AutoFans www Auto Com

2010 Ford Fiesta: What it means

When Jim Farley led the launch of the Scion line and helped introduce the Toyota Yaris for North America, he looked east from his California office for a response.

“I wondered: What would Detroit do? I saw the Aveo.”

Ironically, at about the same time, Toyota was working on its first serious full-size pickup truck, one that would cost the automaker more money than Scion and Yaris and wouldn’t sell in the same volume. But with the new Tundra, Toyota’s transformation into a full-range automaker — American-style — would be complete.

Farley left for Ford Motor Company just as spiking gas prices began contributing to a seismic shift in American automotive tastes. Now this seismic shift looks like more than just a reaction to gasoline prices. There’s a credit crisis, too, and we’re no longer able to get affordable luxury car leases on the backs of bloated residuals. Out-of-work carpenters and home-improvement handymen can’t afford new F-150s. City living is becoming popular, again, and a small car is as likely to become an urban family’s only ride as the third or fourth car in a suburban McMansion’s garage. Farley is confident that even as oil eases on down below $110 per barrel, small cars are here to stay.

And so Ford will bring its next-generation Fiesta B-segment car here. Tundra wasn’t to be Toyota’s best-seller, and the Fiesta won’t be Ford’s biggest-selling small car in the U.S. But it will transform the battling Blue Oval.

“Fiesta is to Ford,” Farley says, “what Tundra is to Toyota.”

By marketing true “world cars,” with small differences between markets around the globe like bumper design, interior trim, and standard and optional equipment, Ford figures it can make money on its two smallest cars to be sold in America: the Fiesta and the next-generation, 2011 Focus. They would sell for about $17,000 and $20,000, respectively, in 2008 U.S. dollars. Ford begins production at the end of the first quarter of ‘10, in the Cuautitln plant near Mexico City that now builds F-150s to F-550s for the Mexican market. Production of the ‘11 Focus begins a few months later.

Ford has tried the global thing before, most recently with the first Focus at the end of the last millennium. By the time the U.S. Focus made it to market, Ford had made a mess of its production efficiencies. The marketing department has given the new way of doing things a Bob Marley tune-like name, “One Ford,” which means it could build, for example, the Americanized Fiesta in any Fiesta plant in the world.

“Take the five-door hatch, add the Verve-concept rear deck, and you’re 90-plus-percent there,” says Mays of the U.S.-spec sedan’s look. It will employ a conventional trunk, yet maintain a racy roofline and tall rear deck. Its upper grille design will be different from those of the Euro models we drove; our version should be a riff on Ford’s current three-chrome-bars look of the Taurus, Edge, and others.

It might work, this time. This is no Chevy Aveo. Far from it — the Fiesta is an appealing car in a Mini-like “gotta have it” way (although it most certainly is not competition for the Mini), with an interior anyone in the sub-luxury market can appreciate. Its climate control/audio/navigation system buttons are reminiscent of an Infiniti’s or Acura’s, although they’re smaller and a bit less tactile. The soft gray padded dash in our Kermit green test car deliberately contrasts with the black, hard-plastic door panels and black leather seats.

Features on the European “Titanium” trim level include rain-sensing wipers and automatic headlamps, driver’s side manual lumbar support (but, alas, nothing for the passenger), a key-free system with “Ford power” start button, automatic temperature control, Bluetooth and voice USB connectivity, power folding mirrors and power rear windows (the fronts apparently are standard in Europe, no doubt all four will be power in North America) and 15-in. alloys. We’ll get the optional Microsoft Sync system, natch, which helps ensure that the majority of American buyers won’t care about handling so much as making hands-free phone calls.

They should care, because ride is as smooth and quiet as a much bigger car and yet it has nimble, entertaining handling befitting a small car. Budget enthusiasts will be pleased enough and can rationalize it with that old, “it’s more fun to drive a slow car fast” saw. It’ll be even easier for enthusiasts if Ford does the obvious thing (why do companies like this insist on saying “we’re studying it” of such no-brainers?) and offer in North America the sport package, which stiffens up the suspension. We will get a choice of 15-, 16- or 17-in. wheels and tires.

For now, North American Ford dealers will sell the four-door sedan and four-door hatchbacks. The cute, kicky three-door hatchback, like the sport package, is under consideration, but not planned for us yet. No sedans were ready for the introductory drive, so the five-door hatchback with the 118-hp, 1.6L Duratec four was the ticket. As you’ve read before, it does 0-62 mph in 9.9 sec and achieves 39.9 mpg on the European highway test cycle. It’s coupled to a positive, direct five-speed manual with longish throws. It’s a good gearbox, but short of the Honda/Mazda Miata ideal. While most Americans will chose an automatic, the clutch is light and progressive, making it a good first manual trans for any driver.

There’s only adequate low-end torque, so launches are leisurely, with speed building nicely in the mid- to upper-rev ranges. You can keep the revs up to enjoy a winding country road, but any tight corners requiring a downshift to second gear will sap the power coming out of the turn. The engine is quiet and smooth at cruising speeds for a car in this class, but it gets raspy and a bit grainy at full-throttle. It lets you know it’s working hard, which is fine by us.

The electric power assist steering is handy in low-speed parking maneuvers, but like many systems of its ilk, it gets a bit too light and numb at highway speeds. It might not have mattered that much (electric-assist steering is generally credited for about a 1 mpg fuel-economy bump thanks to lack of parasitic losses) had Ford not offered up drives in its European Focus and Focus ST, two small cars with exemplary power steering, the previous day. A short drive in a 1.6L turbodiesel with 16-in. wheels revealed slightly more steering weight (but not too much) because of the heavier engine.

Bottom line, though, is that the Fiesta is not only more B-segment car than most Americans will expect; it’s as easy and fun to drive as the best of the C/D- and D-segment sedans, too.

A few questions remain. How quickly can Ford add an EcoBoost engine to the lineup? A 1.0- to 1.3L EcoBoost (gas direct-injection and light-boost turbocharging) can offer the same power in this light, 2200-pound car as a conventional 1.8L engine, Farley claims. And how did the Fiesta get this light, as light as a smaller Toyota Yaris? Ford boasts extensive use of high- and ultra-high-strength steel, the materials it took out of the Edge a few years ago, which resulted in a crossover nearly as heavy as its Explorer. How can it make money on this car in North America?

And, finally, should Ford offer the Ghia trim package, available in Europe, on North American versions? The fear is that most domestic buyers will remember the Mustang II Ghia, not the Mark I Fiesta Ghia sold here from ‘79 to ‘81. I say, go for it — it’s a good name, and only those who do remember the Fiesta Ghia will care. Those who remember the other model will quickly forget the Mustang II. The Fiesta is that good a car.

[source:MotorTrend]

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2010 Ford Fiesta: What it means

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 10th, 2008 at 9:04 am and is filed under Ford, Auto Review, Car Review. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.