The end of the Ford Fiesta

road_high

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119844046#Comment_119844046

I hope so. Wouldn’t like to see Ford disappear. They meant affordable motoring for a lot of people

road_high

I suppose if they sell one Mustang E it’s likely more profitable than several Fiestas

Oops!

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119818257#Comment_119818257

They were in a very odd place in the European market in the late 90's too before the Focus arrived. A terrible line up of aging models.

Oops!

Bought 2 00 ones back in 2015 from a very elderly couple with the clutch burned out of both for 500 euro. They were planning on scrapping both of them! The first one was a 4 door Ghia with 65,000 mls on the clock, the second one was a 2 door paddy spec withe the 1.3 Endura pushrod engine..... The 2 door sold within days funny enough, sorry i didn't hold onto the Ghia!

The J Stands for Jay

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119842404#Comment_119842404

If that was the lineup, I couldn't see myself getting another Ford.

AMKC

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119845588#Comment_119845588

The first one was a 4 door Ghia with 65,000 mls on the clock, the second one was a 2 door paddy

You mean 5 door. There was no 4 door Fiestas sold here as that would be the saloon version and I am not even sure if there was a saloon version of the Fiesta.

If there was it was properly sold in Turkey and other markets like that.

I know the Renault Clio was sold in saloon form in Turkey. I remember seeing one there.

Anyone know if there was a saloon version of the Fiesta?

Oops!

Yes it was a 5 door Ghia. Yes i've seen a few saloon mk6 Fiesta's in Dubai, Looked like a shrunk Focus saloon.

creedp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119844046#Comment_119844046

Seems to be a very flawed and possible uniqe product development / marketing strategy. I'm not aware of any other successful manufacturer announcing the cessation of models in multiple segments without having replacements ready to launch.

road_high

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119849667#Comment_119849667

It amounts to a retrenchment. It happened with Fiat and look where they ended up. Non replacement of key models is a bad sign. The likes of Hyundai are always launching something new and for good reasons

colm_mcm

I think it’s another sigh that Europe aren’t the key global market it once was. You can see that in the unpalatable designs premium German car makers are coming out that aren’t to European tastes.

Another factor with small cars that seem to not have been mentioned is this; a car is made up of multiple systems, climate control, safety, infotainment, drivetrain etc. as consumers have become more demanding the sophistication and cost of these systems on a €20k supermini is comparable to that on a €30k small family car, so aside from saving on 100-200kg of steel, why would you even bother building €20k cars now?

FGR

It's sad that something as popular as the Fiesta or the Focus disappear from showrooms.

Tbh, I also feel this way about the Mondeo. They were all great cars that I enjoyed driving but the writing was probably on the wall the minute SUVs started becoming a thing, nevermind electrification being much easier in larger vehicles.

I think back to when Ford was in its prime with the MK3 Mondeo, the Fiesta and Focus of that time and the current Focus which, imo, is back on track as being one of the best driver's cars out there. Add to that how I often wondered if they'd take the risk of introducing something like the Falcon from the Australian market - of course they shut shop down there before all of this but it was great to dream.

Are environmental regulations making up a part of the problem? Honda and Toyota still sell petrol models of their current cars abroad without hybrid tech. Not to mention a new model Mondeo in the Chinese market.

My current car is 7 years old which Ive had since new. Three times longer than any other car before it. I can only surmise that I find the car market is boring, dull and stale.

Sure there's an Audi, BMW or Mercedes; but they aren't exactly all that impressive either lately.

opus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119835692#Comment_119835692

Just to close this off, a friend of mine brought one of their boxes back from the UK for me at Xmas. But despite it saying on their website it works with the Mark 8 Fiesta, it doesn't as that models is not on the list of cars on the box. So it's going back again for a refund.

Charles Babbage

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119851193#Comment_119851193

Surely though a Fiesta should sell in Buenos Aires or Lagos as well as in Europe? Certainly in South Africa I rented a Fiesta and it was grand, and these places should be growing markets.

Tech_Head

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120133703#Comment_120133703

You probably have but have you contacted them to make sure? Wouldn’t surprise me if they were using boxes they already had and newer maps / cars may be on their data base.

earlytobed

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119848584#Comment_119848584

There is a saloon Fiesta in my home town, I think it's from Ukraine

opus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120135239#Comment_120135239

I did indeed. When I connected the box to my PC it downloaded an updated d/b of vehicles but still didn't include the Mk 8 Fiesta. It's a pita as I had a friend bring it back with from the UK at xmas & now am waiting on someone else travelling to London who's going to post it for me when they get there.

They still have it on their website saying it works of course. Once I get the refund, I'll see if anybody else is doing similiar.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119804733#Comment_119804733

Have a Ford Fiesta on order with my local dealer. Will be my 4th in a row. Re EVs, yes won't go near them unless I'm forced to. Battery technology will need to vastly improve before I consider one, plus they need to come down in price (alot).

freshpopcorn

I think this is the last Ford Fiesta!

machiavellianme

Well, it needs a paint job to cover all that graffiti, but I'd take it. Love the Fiesta and the Mazda 2 clone.

Tech_Head

They’re keeping the last two that came off the line. Sad to see it go.

https://www.topgear.com/car-news/business/fetch-tissues-today-final-day-ford-fiesta-production

road_high

Sad to see the Fiesta go, was always a great car for learners, retired people and as a second car. I guess it just comes down to margins- they likely make so little money per unit sold vs some of the SUV range and decided not to invest anymore in the car

Akrasia

Ford fucked themselves over with reliability problems. The old Fiestas, MK1 and MK2 Mondeo's would go on forever, then from MK3 Mondeo they started bringing in planned obsolesce. They would just start falling apart at around 10 years old. The bonnet and boot release, window regulators, demisters etc, little but expensive things would all break and the cars got scrapped

The fiesta brought in small diesels and small turbo powered petrol engines with crap gear boxes that drove well for a few years and then blew up.