FORD FIESTA POISED TO CHALLENGE B-SEGMENT WITH GLOBAL DESIGN, CRAFTSMANSHIP, QUALITY
- Fiesta will deliver class-leading craftsmanship and quality in the small car segment
- The North American Fiesta keeps its European performance and driving dynamics
- Well-proven with more than half a million Fiestas in customer hands around the world, Fiesta arrives in North America to redefine small car customer expectations
Ford Fiesta arrives in North America with a globally proven platform and package ready to change customer expectations about small car craftsmanship and quality.
“Fiesta is all about design, performance and fuel economy benefits,” said Steve Pintar, chief nameplate engineer. “Fiesta doesn’t ask a customer to compromise quality or refinement.”
Smartened-up, not dumbed-down
Ford accelerates its global product development strategy with Fiesta, where vehicles are developed from the outset to appeal to customers in all markets where Ford competes. Fiesta is yet another ONE Ford vehicle and foreshadows the next-generation global Focus.
Fiesta arrives with kinetic design, a successful global platform crafted from high-strength steels and minor detail improvements. Its rigid body structure was adapted to meet unique North American safety standards while honoring the global design language.
“The performance and driving dynamics of the European model have been preserved,” said Pintar. “We added the revolutionary new PowerShift transmission to reach a class-leading 40 miles per gallon. The North American Fiesta represents the best of our global efforts.”
Globally proven, Fiesta Movement validated
Nearly 700,000 Fiestas have been sold around the world. But before a single customer took delivery, Fiesta earned its stripes in extensive durability testing. While the shift to computer-aided engineering has reduced development time and the number of prototypes built, the durability testing has become more stringent.
Prototype Fiestas logged more than 2 million miles of on-road testing finishing with 20 production-level vehicles placed among worldwide test customers, considered high mileage accumulators, logging up to 60,000 miles per year.
Fiesta was subjected to more than 550 component and system laboratory tests to verify durability, functionality, serviceability and sustainability over the vehicle’s lifetime. Doors, liftgate and hood were each operated more than 300,000 times in real-world conditions including dirt, dust, salt and humidity across a variety of temperature ranges and extremes.
The goal: Use those tests to help create an on-road life of 10 years and 150,000 miles. And then it became a movement.
A social media thing
Ford kicked off the Fiesta Movement 11 months before the car’s North American introduction. The Fiesta Movement, a social media program, put European-spec Fiestas in the hands of 100 socially vibrant people, those using the Internet to tweet, Facebook, blog and post video.
Fiesta agents delivered with benefits.
Fiesta agents drove more than 1.5 million miles while performing athletic, cultural and philanthropic missions, then blogging and posting video clips about their experiences. Fiesta buzz is building on a foundation of social media word-of-mouth interactions.
Fiesta recognition is at 58 percent among those who consider themselves potential B-segment prospects – impressive for a global nameplate unavailable in North America since 1980.
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About Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company, a global automotive industry leader based in Dearborn, Mich., manufactures or distributes automobiles across six continents. With about 198,000 employees and about 90 plants worldwide, the company’s automotive brands include Ford, Lincoln, Mercury and, until its sale, Volvo. The company provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company. For more information regarding Ford’s products, please visit www.ford.com.
April 19, 2010
