Friday, July 1, 2011

Ford Fiesta 2011

Ford Fiesta 2011
It all started in 2007 at the Frankfurt Motor Show where Ford have presented  a concept car that follows the Kinetic Design that first appeared on the Ford S-Max. The Verve concept was the beginning for a new market of the 21st century, a market that needed more fuel-efficient and more easy to maintain cars.

In 2008, the road for the Ford Fiesta 2011 had started slowly but progressively. As of August 2008, the Ford Fiesta MK7 had started to be built for the European market in Cologne, Germany, as a first initial step to the following Ford Fiesta 2011 that would be later released for the US market.

In 2009, a second plant had received the “Go” to build the Ford Fiesta in Valencia, Spain; offering a better efficiency on getting the Europeans their favorite hatchback supermini that has been around since 1976.

Ford Fiesta 2011 Hatchback
Ford Fiesta 2011 Hatchback

In 2010, the Ford Fiesta had a big battle with The VW Golf on the European market for the first place in sales around the continent. The VW Golf dominated the sales figures in 2008, 2009 and eventually has beaten the Fiesta, on an approximate 90 000 units apart by the end of 2010, even though the little car struggled to keep up  and eventually had beaten the Golf for a short period of time around August 2010.

Cosmetic-wise, the Ford Fiesta 2011 is about 90% the same with it’s European cousin, but suffered modifications to comply with United States road standards. In this aspect, Kevin George had reshaped the front part of the car, working for about 2 years to keep it as close to the original European design as possible, and at the same time respect all the US regulations.

Ford Fiesta 2011 Interior
Ford Fiesta 2011 Interior

In the aspect of marketing and advertising for the North American segment, Ford had launched a campaign called the Ford Fiesta Movement in spring 2009. The campaign helped the Ford Fiesta 2011 have a clear road in the American peoples’ choice of cars by handing out 100 Fiestas to 100 lucky winners that were selected after submitting a video on YouTube. The winners of this campaign would have each a unit which they could drive 6 months, with all expenses and gas paid by Ford.  In exchange, they had to complete several “Ford Fiesta Missions”.

The production of the new Ford Fiesta 2011 for the North American market had began in May 2010 with a series of delays. Ford claim that the delays where caused by some problems in the quality of the product itself. Eventually the problems were resolved and the car was ready for it’s customers, which received $50 gift cards.

Ford Fiesta 2011 Sedan
Ford Fiesta 2011 Sedan


The ecological side of the car was a strong factor. In this aspect, the Ford Fiesta 2011 had reached into the top five finalists for the 2011 Green Car of the Year given by the  Green Car Journal in the month of November 2010. It hadn’t reached the podium, being beaten by the more ecologic hybrid electric vehicles like the Nissan Leaf and the Chevrolet Volt.

Ford Fiesta 2011 Hatchback
Ford Fiesta 2011 Hatchback

In Britain, the Ford Fiesta surpassed the 3,500,000 units sold mark, Ford enjoying a big success in their supermini/subcompact car market. They hope that the Ford Fiesta 2011 will have the same impact on the North American market, as the need for smaller and ecological cars is more and more needed due to the global warming effects that hit the Earth in the last century.

Ford Fiesta 2011 Hatchback Black
Ford Fiesta 2011 Hatchback Black

No comments:

Post a Comment