Article Comments - 2009 Ford Fiesta First Drive and Full Test

91 messages, Last post on Nov 20, 2009 at 12:28 PM

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What is this discussion about? Ford Fiesta, Future Vehicle, Hatchback

First Drive: 2009 Ford Fiesta - First Impressions: Small European cars haven't made much of an impression in America before, but the Fiesta might be different.(more)

2009 Ford Fiesta Titanium Full Test and Video - Bottom Line: We're crossing our fingers (and toes) that Ford doesn't stray too far from this winning combination of style, performance and efficiency when the 2011 Ford Fiesta finally arrives in 2010. (more)

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#2 of 91 you just know by nippononly Aug 26, 2008 (12:24 pm)
Ford will screw this car up in the transition from Europe to North America. The suspension will get softer, the fuel economy will worsen, and of course they will probably only offer a sedan, which will hack away at the smooth styling of the hatchback and make it ugly. The even sadder part is that even if they leave the car totally intact, the sales performance of the Saturn Astra, transported intact from Europe itself, may be a bad portent as it has been totally pathetic. It seems that Americans don't really want European cars, and that the concept of a "world car", while tantalizing, may not be as hot as it sounds. A jack of all trades is a master of none, and the "trades" of pleasing North American, European, and Asian customers are very diverse.
#3 of 91 you just know (nippononly) by hpmctorque Aug 26, 2008 (12:40 pm)
Do you have any constructive suggestions for Ford? Replies to this message: nippononly (Aug 26, 2008 2:12 pm)
#4 of 91 by ahightower Aug 26, 2008 (12:53 pm)
I'm not sure about this thing. If I have to drive something that looks like a Yaris, it might as well be a Toyota and not a Ford. Maybe high gas prices and Sync will get people into this thing like they have the Focus, but in this country, it will be perceived as the new Aspire (remember that POS?) Fair or not, it will be bought first for low price. Then it can earn a good reputation and demand a little more money like the Fit.
#5 of 91 Re: you just know (nippononly) [hpmctorque] by nippononly Aug 26, 2008 (2:12 pm)
Replying to: hpmctorque (Aug 26, 2008 12:40 pm) Offer an RS version (maybe call it SVT in the States?) right from the start. Make it seem like a premium car and people will buy it on something besides price. Offer the hatchbacks in addition to, or instead of, the sedan. Turning hatches into sedans NEVER works. If they can afford it, offer a "touring" version that is softer, but also offer the standard, unmolested European version. DON'T fall into the trap every other automaker falls into when importing their world cars to America: making only one engine available, always the biggest one offered in other markets. Offer at least one other engine with superlative fuel economy, whether it is a 50-state diesel or a smaller gas engine. Yes, it will be slower, but people commuting in bumper to bumper traffic won't care, especially when they are getting 50 mpg. The biggest problem, as the article mentions, is that they will need to enormously decontent it to bring it to the States. They must be sure, however, to offer Sync, maybe make it standard on all trims - that has been such a boon for Focus sales. Offer at least one "expensive" full-Euro-kit version, even if it sells in small numbers. Again, this will help in averting the "cheap hatchback" image it might otherwise end up having.
#6 of 91 Re: you just know (nippononly) by hpmctorque Aug 27, 2008 (12:39 am)
"Turning hatches into sedans NEVER works." How about the Jetta? It sells in much larger numbers in the U.S. than the Golf, from which it was derived? I like hatchbacks, and appreciate their practicality and packaging efficiency, as you seem to, but for whatever reason most Americans prefer sedans. I presume the main reason more engine choices have not been made available in the past, and multiple variations (Euro plus non-Euro) of a model, has been the costs associated with too much market segmentation. Maybe the fact that the industry now believes that high fuel will remain high, unlike in the past, will prompt at least some of the changes you suggested. Take the Yaris, for example. As you know, the 4-door Yaris was sold as a sedan in the U.S. For '09 it will also be available as a hatchback. This is due to the higher demand for small cars, resulting from higher gasoline prices. When gasoline prices were low Americans prefered large vehicles, which is why you had a lot of market segmentation in large vehicles, but fewer choices in small ones. You and I are the exception. We valued economical, nimble, fun-to-drive cars even before gas prices rose, whereas most Americans assigned a higher priority to space and comfort, power, and the safety of large vehicles. I believe the domestic manufacturers are responding to the changes in the marketplace. The enormous challenge they face, however, is preserving their limited cash resources while they wait for demand to increase. Replies to this message: nippononly (Aug 27, 2008 5:07 pm)
#7 of 91 $24,000 by guss Aug 27, 2008 (7:43 am)
Are you kidding me, they will need to decontent it by half to get it to the point Americans will but it. Don't get me wrong I believe it is a great looking car, but America buys their cars by the pound and for $24k most people would go for the larger Fusion. Even with higher gas prices I think it will be a tough sell even if the quality is higher. If we ever get the new Focus , which I presume is going to be much more expensive, the Fiesta will need to start at below $15k to even have a chance. By then all the features that make it unique will be gone and all we will end up with is the Fiesta of old. Replies to this message: claudius753 (Sep 03, 2008 6:07 pm)
#8 of 91 rear headrests by vvk Aug 27, 2008 (9:39 am)
Who wants to bet that everything that makes Fiesta an outstanding European car will be stripped off to "match American consumer taste," including rear headrests?
#9 of 91 Re: you just know (nippononly) [hpmctorque] by nippononly Aug 27, 2008 (5:07 pm)
Replying to: hpmctorque (Aug 27, 2008 12:39 am) How about the Jetta? It sells in much larger numbers in the U.S. than the Golf, from which it was derived? Well, if asked to choose between Jetta and Golf/Rabbit based solely on styling, I would pick Golf in a heartbeat. But I should clarify my remark a bit: there are models where the sedan and the hatchback were both styled independently from the ground up to be what they became. The Yaris is just such a model - the sedan and the hatch were designed by two different teams - and as a result both look like they were designed to look as they do INTENTIONALLY, not as an afterthought. I believe the Jetta/Bora is another - styled independently from the Golf. The problem occurs when a car sold only as a hatchback elsewhere is "converted" after the fact to be a sedan for American consumption - they hack off the hatch, glue on a trunk, and call the job complete. Ugh, is all I can say to all the models like that I have seen. Is Versa such a model? It rather looks like it is. That is what I am afraid they will do for the Fiesta, as to my knowledge it is not sold as a sedan anywhere else. And as we know (since it is already on sale in Europe), the design of the new Fiesta is complete.
#10 of 91 Call me crazy . . . by mattandi Aug 28, 2008 (6:00 am)
but the five door hatch version is a great looking little car. I would think that it would compete well against many of the other small wagons available in the U.S., even some that are slightly larger (think Fit, Vibe, etc.). It may suffer some decontent, but if it can come in topping out around 20k or a bit more that seems a reasonable target. If Ford can leverage this global concept, they should be able to get costs down without stripping away too much content. I am with nippon in that it would be nice to see an unmolested, fully European model hit the U.S. market though, even if only as an optioned version. My suggestions would target marketing mostly. Don't compete on price, market the car. (recent insanity has shown U.S. buyers have some tolerance for premium prices on small cars) Bring over the hatch version, but call it anything other than a hatch. I'm not sure I buy into the "Americans don't like hatchbacks" thinking anyway. Bring over the smaller engines and the diesel, and then market the utility and fuel economy. Buck the "more HP is better" trend. Take a page out of Hyundai's marketing book, and take direct aim at competitors, even some that at first seem silly. Of prime importance, do not under any circumstances compromise quality to reach some cost target. Ford's quality improvements are just beginning to get noticed. Any move away from that would be suicide. Replies to this message: kirstie_h (Aug 28, 2008 11:28 am) mattandi (Aug 29, 2008 8:40 am)