It'll be two more years before the first Fiesta models are seen scurrying around American streets, but Ford has already started production on the latest version of its all-new compact, a car that is underpinning Ford's revival effort.
This week production began on the 2009 Fiesta at Ford's Cologne, Germany plant, the first of several steps to be taken before the car is sold stateside. Introduced in 1976, the latest version is the eighth generation of the popular car, a model that had made a brief appearance in the US more than two decades ago.
What is significant about the Fiesta's launch is that it has already been designated by Ford as critical to the company's long term survival. Indeed, with consumer shifts shifting almost overnight, the Fiesta (along with several other models) will fill several voids in Ford's line up and allow the company to stop the loss of market share and billions of dollars in lost revenue.
"The Ford Fiesta is very special to us in Ford of Europe and to our customers," said John Fleming, President and CEO, Ford of Europe. "Over the past 32 years it has consistently been at the top of the list of Europe's best-selling cars.
"Its dynamic, bold design and high manufacturing quality will attract a new generation of Fiesta owners and appeal to existing customers.
By this fall, additional manufacturing plants around the world will begin to produce the Fiesta. Plants in China and in Thailand are next in line followed by Spain in January 2009. The company's plant in Mexico, which will supply the US market, will not be ready to produce Fiestas until 2010 as Ford switches production from the building Ford F- 150 pickup truck over to the Fiesta.
Two models are destined for the US: a sporty European style hatchback and a two-door coupe. When production reaches full capacity by the end of 2010, the global B-class platform for the Fiesta is expected to produce at least one million units annually. Ford shares the Fiesta platform with the Mazda2.
(Source: Ford Motor Company)