I know a few of us who have been in the industry and/or watch the car market have been talking about the arrival of the Fiesta in the US. The Fiesta is probably loosely in between the markets of the Fit/Yaris and the Mini, with a much stronger emphasis on vehicle dynamics and tech features than the Toyota/Honda cars, but less to the extreme (and less performance-centric in a drivetrain sense) than the Mini.
As a gimmick, Ford is offering reservations for the Fiesta, which goes on sale in the summer. Reservations are non-binding, but they include some free premium features, including Sync, worth a few hundred dollars, and also promise a "VIP" experience (if Ford dealerships have learned how to do this since the last time I bought a Ford, I will duly impressed in that in itself).
http://content.usatoday.com/communi...eservations-for-the-13320-fiesta-subcompact/1
Apparently the gimmick has done pretty well so far. I put my name in the reservation system, just for fun, although I really want a new car before the summer.
As for the car itself, it looks pretty good to me. The 5-door comes in around 160" long, and its fuel economy rating is 30/40. It's said to be quite roomy inside, and it has very good vehicle dynamics. It has pretty good iPod/iPhone integration with Sync (although there's a thread here about some people having trouble with 3.x iPhone/iPods). It also has some pretty nice safety features, including stability control that includes an "anti-nibble" system that is apparently focused on managing the car at highway/interstate speeds, and a complement of 7 airbags as standard features at all trim levels. Push-button start, like the Prius, etc, is also standard. Otherwise, the electronic goodies are somewhat limited -- at least as far as I could see, there's no nav system available.
Also of interest is that Mazda is bringing a Mazda2 version of the same car to the US, which will probably be even nicer (although, knowing Mazda, will somehow manage to get 30mpg on the highway
). But it's not due for a while, sadly.
Anyway, the arrival of the car in the US has been written about a fair amount as one of the more promising signs for the domestic marques. It's "late to the party" in some senses, but then the Toyota and Honda cars have never had any appeal to driving enthusiasts, and the late to the party approach worked very well for Ford in other cases, such as when the Escape came out. Hopefully it'll be a win for them.
(Note, as e pointed out, the new Fiesta initially went on sale as a 2009 model in the UK; it will be an early 2011 model this summer, when it makes its US debut).
As a gimmick, Ford is offering reservations for the Fiesta, which goes on sale in the summer. Reservations are non-binding, but they include some free premium features, including Sync, worth a few hundred dollars, and also promise a "VIP" experience (if Ford dealerships have learned how to do this since the last time I bought a Ford, I will duly impressed in that in itself).
http://content.usatoday.com/communi...eservations-for-the-13320-fiesta-subcompact/1
USA Today said:
Apparently the gimmick has done pretty well so far. I put my name in the reservation system, just for fun, although I really want a new car before the summer.
As for the car itself, it looks pretty good to me. The 5-door comes in around 160" long, and its fuel economy rating is 30/40. It's said to be quite roomy inside, and it has very good vehicle dynamics. It has pretty good iPod/iPhone integration with Sync (although there's a thread here about some people having trouble with 3.x iPhone/iPods). It also has some pretty nice safety features, including stability control that includes an "anti-nibble" system that is apparently focused on managing the car at highway/interstate speeds, and a complement of 7 airbags as standard features at all trim levels. Push-button start, like the Prius, etc, is also standard. Otherwise, the electronic goodies are somewhat limited -- at least as far as I could see, there's no nav system available.
Also of interest is that Mazda is bringing a Mazda2 version of the same car to the US, which will probably be even nicer (although, knowing Mazda, will somehow manage to get 30mpg on the highway
). But it's not due for a while, sadly.Anyway, the arrival of the car in the US has been written about a fair amount as one of the more promising signs for the domestic marques. It's "late to the party" in some senses, but then the Toyota and Honda cars have never had any appeal to driving enthusiasts, and the late to the party approach worked very well for Ford in other cases, such as when the Escape came out. Hopefully it'll be a win for them.
(Note, as e pointed out, the new Fiesta initially went on sale as a 2009 model in the UK; it will be an early 2011 model this summer, when it makes its US debut).
