If they can pull off a 3-door SVT/ST/RS model Ford may steal my money from VW.

Good job Mark Kleis, I feel like I’m in the car. This really makes me think we have been getting shafted for years now. Look at that interior! It looks like something from VW, which speaks volumes for Ford. It’s also nice to see Ford giving the trial group fully loaded models and not stripper ones.

Of course theyre gonna get the fully loaded ones… its basically like a press car, and they dont know the price of the things, so they may as well praise them.

A4: I cant wait ’til one of our domestic company’s actually give us some products that I actually wann buy ! And as a multiple VW owner it would be nice to buy a decent affordable product that does not come from germany(realistically, mexico).

Ford should replace the focus with the fiesta and give us the RS ! (of course they wont though)

I love this quote: “For years, savvy consumers have been begging for Ford… to bring us what the Europeans have, and Ford has listened.” Think about it — consumers have to BEG Ford to bring good cars to the U.S.? Ya think that maybe Ford could have figured that out for themselves???

We surelly pay lot of money for that quality…

I’ll take the boat, the house, the jeep, and the girl, thank you!

seriously, chrissy isn’t picky with what she drives in, or who she hangs around with!

Jake- Thanks! Mine was pretty loaded, but there are some with even more options, and a few with less. To be honest, the cloth interior is almost “cooler.”

SomeGreek- Actually, the Fiesta is *expected* to be one of the best values in the segment. Est. price range of $12-15k. Fit goes over 18k.

Mutant- Feel free to ask Kristi, but I think she’s content where she is

MarkKleis – In Greece Fiesta and Fit (Jazz) are on the same price, 13-15k euro (17-19k usd) so if you can get the Ford for 12 to 15, good for you!

Sure, people with S-Class, ‘fancy Toyota’ (aka Lexus) and a boat will be buying sub-compacts from Ford. *ROFL*

Does it have disks or drums at the back?

FIt starts at 15.3K (delivered) and spikes up to 17K for Sport model (quoted with manual transmissions). Auto will cost you another 850. I looked up prices on cars.com. Also, Fit comes only as 5 doors. I can’t comment on Focus handling, but Fit is 90% of Mini, which is excellent in my book.
Natural 3 door competitor would be Yaris, which in 3 door hatch can be had with manual for under 13K delivered.

@A4 Congrats on No.1 and No.3 a win and a show.

Borat, are ya havin’ trouble staging?;-)) Ah, were only F***ing with ya or… maybe not… Hmmm…:-))

DB9;-)

Oops, forgot to… It’s all good… know what I’m sayin’ – chillax;-)

DB9

As far as a Ford interior goes, this is a huge step up, however, I can’t shake the feeling that I am seeing a lot of Yaris Hatch meets Impreza in the interior….I guess we know where they got their inspiration.

This is the best small car you can buy at the moment period…Its wonderfull and I hope it makes it to USA unscathed. Well done Ford.

Wow – It’s really bringing the standard of design and quality a level up… I wouldn’t mind touching all the plastic interior in the car to see what quality they are at… A hot little mobile phone, comes with a car….no camera though…

I seem to recall a discussion here some time ago on the North American spec Astra. If I remember correctly more than one of our illustrious contributors bitched about the lack of a centre armrest. Well…sigh, I’m not seeing one here either. I know this is such a minor issue it’s hardly worth mentioning given the significance of this car. Or is it? Last time I checked there were still several large bodies of water separating us and Europe depending on which coast you’re starting from and perhaps even a larger rift in our collective personalities. I’d advise Ford to put one in or at least make it available. It’s just so much easier to text while in traffic if you have a place to rest your right elbow.

wow this is my next car the replace my loved geo metro..

johny, good catch….. there is a population of people who absolutely refuse to buy a car if it lacks a center arm rest. for instance, the only car I can think of that I wouldn’ t mind driving w/o one is the smart fortwo, but only b/c you need to drive it with your hand on the shifter anyway (its less jerky in manual mode than in “auto”)…. otherwise, its a must!

although, many small cars lack the center arm rest. start from the Versa,Yaris, Rio, Accent….just to name a few. So Ford wouldn’t be “unique” in this aspect.

At least Mark you know how to keep a car clean, I thought I was one of the only ones who made sure they always had a clean car, interesting improvision. I’m not so sure why you got the car waxed, I’ve not been a fan of getting new cars waxed, at least on light colored cars, but you did a nice job, I’m sure it wasn’t the stuff that flakes. For a detailer I’m a fan of a 1/3 Windex/Water mixture, I don’t know if it’s the best after a wax, but I’ve always had luck with it, I also like the foam invisable glass for the windows – and as a improv detailer sometimes too. Also, I keep a California Car Duster on hand for the dust the rear of a hatch accumulates, and for a quick brake dust clean up.

Great write up Mark.
Being in Europe it is very interesting reading the comments and reactions from the usual North American anti-Ford posters.
Finally Ford North America will offer a vehicle that makes the competition nervous and also hitting some nerves with people who go to great lenghts to not want to like a Ford car.

To the Ford haters in N.A., there is a reason why the new Fiesta is one of the best selling cars in the world, and now North America is finally getting a taste. Wake up and smell reality lads, Ford does make excellent cars in other parts of the world, get used to cause they are coming to your neighbourhood dealership soooooooon.

Mark how about a through list of the features offered in your B sgement Fiesta, normally offered in North American luxury vehicles. That should send a shcok wave through some of these posters here that have such a hate on for Ford.

BTW, Mr Bimmer fan FYI, VW Polo has rear drum brakes, as does the Fiesta. Its a common feature on B segment vehicles. Also if you are a S class or Lexus driver and your 20 year old daughter wants premium features like Dad has but in a B segment car and you live in North America, you telling me you wouldn’t consider the Fiesta with its long list of premium features.

Bimmer- Truly not sure what you mean? The people I picked up were friends and I was not implying they would buy the Fiesta… but, FWIW, the one with the S class has a fleet of Ford trucks, and the one with a new Lexus has an F150 (My GF’s dad), and she has and hates her Acura RSX. She wants my Fiesta over her RSX. (Her RSX was $24k, nearly $10k more than the Fiesta).

Borat- The prices you listed are starting prices with no options. Taking a base model Fit, and adding 16 inch wheels, floor mats, USB aux, and interior lighting to be equivocal to the Fiesta puts the price at $18,189. You can easily price a base Fit to $19k and beyond, not including Sport or Navi. Fiesta is expected to top out around 15-16k.

Apples to apples, if Ford sells these cars anywhere near the prices they told us they expect to, it will be the best value in the class (and have more power than all in the class but the upgraded Versa), will almost certainly have the highest gas MPG rating, and a long list of unique features not found anywhere else in the class.

Orangecones- There is definitely similarities with the Fit inside, especially on the steering wheel. Not sure who started using it first in Europe though.

Johnycanuck- In the manual I think people will agree a center console only gets in the way (in a small car). In my other car, I removed my center console and I greatly prefer it missing. The Fiesta is just too small of a car to have an armrest with a manual. I do agree, though, for the automatics they definitely should have a center console.

JakeK66- Thanks! I am a professional detailer by trade, so keeping my cars and trucks clean is second nature. There is nothing at all wrong with waxing a new vehicle, and in fact, I highly recommend it. Wax helps to repel things and makes it easier to wash the vehicle and helps to diminish wash induced swirls (#1 complaint about auto paint from owners).
Using Windex and Vinegar might work on windows (do not use on tint!), but I wouldn’t use it on the paint. It will strip wax, too.
I love the Sprayway foaming glass cleaner…very convenient and works great.

@somegreek, here in Estonia the Fit(Jazz) is USD $3,000 to $5,000 more then the Fiesta .

Mark, there are almost no options for Fit Sport. Honda solved the problem similarly to ol’Henry: any option you want that fit EX or LX trim.

GhiaFan, you obviously read a lot of technical specs, but they usually do not translate into look and feel of the car. I have no idea what drives car sales in Tallinn, but in US it is looks of the car: Majority of US consumers buy their vehicles because they like the looks. Try to package this factor into technical specs. Another almost equally important factor is what their neighbors drive. And lastly, some of us like European cars, but history is not kind to them. Except for German cars that in many cases were aimed at US market very carefully, I am referring to fairly expensive specimens, most of European cars failed. Statistically European cars has not penetrated below 25K market. Actually even US manufacturers failed in this segment, yet the whole segment of society that does not care what their neighbors drive are purchasing in this segment.

MarkKleis,

I do like Fords. And I had a chance to drive long time ago entry level Fiesta L Mk 1. That car had worth brakes then Lada! Now they’re a world apart. I hope we could get it with dick brakes all around. Car looks fine and I, surely, would prefer it to any other car in this class (MINI excluded). But I think it would be more expensive then Yaris, Versa, etc. and would probably start from $15-16K in Canada and go all the way to $22-23 for fully loaded.

Let’s all hope that it would have same great reliability as first generation Ford Fusion!

Mark, thanks for these reviews. I like these Fiestas and it may be a good runabout for me.

One thing about the center armrest – I had a manual Honda and it had no armrest – I also didn’t think I’d miss it in a manual. I was dead wrong. Yes you use that arm to shift, but quite often you are also on the highway or wherever and you want to put your arm on something. Honda had no aftermarket part at all, and frankly I ended up making my own. Other owners saw it and wanted one also, so I wasn’t alone on this.

Point is even on the manual Ford should consider this at least as an option an owner can install. I can see why it may not be on a Euro-spec car because I lived in Munich and due to the compact crammed cities and the fact that most people drive short distances in more busy traffic they are shifting more so the arm rests less. The streets here are generally larger, less busy, and the distances are mostly longer.

To those few people giving Mark crap here – please grow up. He’s doing us all a favor with these reports and giving us a live sneak-peek. It’s fair and fun to be playfully uncivil to one another but jumping the contributors in questionable ways is really not cool.

mayer_ray, well said. And again, the Fiesta is being billed as a ‘premium’ small car. Something as simple as a centre armrest can do wonders to separate itself from the pack including all those competitors orangecones mentioned.

MarkK, first of all this is an excellent series of articles and kudos to Ford for the whole concept. I still don’t buy into the lack of an armrest just because it is a small car and a manual. I have an original Neon Coupe and after many years of ownership I still find myself looking for something to do with my right elbow and mayer_ray pretty much nailed the reasons why. If the argument comes down to proper ergonomics I’m sure it wouldn’t be the most challenging obstacle Ford engineers have had to tackle.

@Borat, not sure if you are following the FiestaMovement and what the reactions from the 100 agents have been so far, I think it is safe to say that the Fiesta is batting a 100 in regards to the look and feel of the car that you speak of being the normal driving factor for the majority of US consumers.
And what I find most interesting are the over the top positive comments or reactions coming from in most cases a demographics that are not car enthusiasts. This bodes very well in the sense that the car is bringing awareness to a marketplace that has not and does not think Ford when thinking about a cool small efficient car.

Living most of my life in Canada and now living in Europe, I really do not see much difference in what people desire or expect when purchasing a car. Especially with higher fuel prices hitting North America in the last year. This fact alone will make for a better business case of offering a more premium type small car in North America which the Fiesta is all about. You don’t have to give up the toys just to save on gas, and it looks very damn good to boot IMO.

The FiestaMovement is worth while to keep an eye on, if you care to read honest to goodness responses and feedback on the Fiesta. So much better then the predictable blah blah blah from the auto journalists that have to suck some kind of words out their pen to get paid.

Also as I understand Ford is doing Fiesta Test Drive Events across America at different cities, so go out and drive the car, then make an informed opinion.

Keep up the great articles Mark, look forward to more of your feedback.

Thanks for the kind words, guys.

As for the center console, maybe I was wrong since so many of you still think it should be there. I haven’t had a center console in about 1.5 years, so maybe I just got used to it?

*I will let Ford know* what you guys want, and we can keep our fingers crossed!

Have a great weekend!

Again- Ford needs a subcompact; I don’t need to drive it. And I’m not sold on the Fiesta name for North America. Why not Escort?

From this review, this seems a good little car.

2morrowdesign: “Ford should replace the focus with the fiesta and give us the RS” Different segments

Bimmer: “people with S-Class will skip the Fiesta. ‘fancy Toyota’ owners, who knows? maybe they’ll try to buy some 486s?

Borat: Fit is probably Honda’s best car. It’s the best subcompact we get here now.

MarkKleis: $24K for a Civic?

Look for a proper car test at Top Gear:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_KIqdS1SO0&feature=fvst
Try to do that with a Humvee!

jackjimturkey-
You asked why the Fiesta name, and not an Escort? Because the car IS a Fiesta, not an Escort. The Fiesta had a short, miserable life in America, but has a long, storied success in Europe. Ford knows that Americans are starting to catch to the fact that Europe has better small cars…and my guess is they want to take advantage of that correlation. The Fiesta I am driving is for sale (and has been since the 1970s) in Europe.

The $24k was for an RSX, which is an Acura. Did I mistakenly say Civic? My bad if I did!

@jackjimturkey, the Escort was a C segment vehicle. The Fiesta is a B segment vehicle.

Whatever segment, i’d say “Escort” is not a name that will sell vehicles. Many people including myself have lived overseas and know the Fiesta is a good car, and I understand that when it was sold here in the 70s (I think) it did not have a bad connotation. That point aside, I wouldn’t get hung up over the name anyway – a good car is a good car.

Mark, about the “24k Civic” thing, I’d bet it was a jab at the RSX being a “rebadged Civic” – it’s based on the same platform components. I’m also no big rebadged anything fan unless the end vehicle is substantially different from the start vehicle. I can see where the RSX is substantially different than the Civic it was based on, mainly because the old Honda CRX that it basically is like hasn’t been on the market for maybe 17 years now.

Mark, am totally enjoying your reports, keep ‘em coming! Can’t wait for these to hit the streets. One small favor: can you put in your logbook of requests to ask Ford to keep the rear fog lights for the US-spec version? MINI has them (optional, anyway), and it’s a great safety feature for the (admittedly limited number of) Americans who know about them.

CajunRican- Thanks for the compliments! I’m enjoying bringing you all these articles.
As for the fog lights, I will make sure to tell my contact later today. Although, I think they already said they planned to make them both reflectors- maybe they can still change it.