Ford's Plus-Sized Fiesta

Edward Niedermeyer
by Edward Niedermeyer

Having shown a raft of C-platformed cars, MPVs and crossovers at the Detroit Auto Show, Ford is making big deal out of its smaller B-segment platform at Geneva, with this “B-Max” MPV. Just over four inches longer than a fiesta but over a foot shorter than the C-Max, the B-Max packages pillar-free sliding door entrances into a tiny footprint for this MPV, which is destined for a 2012 launch in Europe (no word on US availability, but don’t hold your breath). And in addition to the Fiesta’s 1.6 NA four-banger, the B-Max will debut Ford’s smallest EcoBoost engine to date, a 1.0 liter with start-stop technology. Just the thing to take on Opel’s suicide-doored Meriva, which is headed to the US soon as a Buick.



Edward Niedermeyer
Edward Niedermeyer

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  • Z71_Silvy Z71_Silvy on Feb 28, 2011

    Yet another hideous Ford. Why go through all the effort of making a vehicle if the outcome is so ugly and mediocre? That has been the case with every new Ford since about 2005. They really need to hire people that know what they're doing...from the top down.

  • VanillaDude VanillaDude on Mar 01, 2011

    I think this is the new Nissan Axxess, right?

  • Tim Myers Can you tell me why in the world Mazda uses the ugliest colors on the MX5? I have a 2017 in Red and besides Black or White, the other colors are horrible for a sports car. I constantly hear this complaint. I wish someone would tell whoever makes theses decisions that they need a more sports car colors available. They’d probably sell a lot more of them. Just saying.
  • Dartman EBFlex will soon be able to buy his preferred brand!
  • Mebgardner I owned 4 different Z cars beginning with a 1970 model. I could already row'em before buying the first one. They were light, fast, well powered, RWD, good suspenders, and I loved working on them myself when needed. Affordable and great styling, too. On the flip side, parts were expensive and mostly only available in a dealers parts dept. I could live with those same attributes today, but those days are gone long gone. Safety Regulations and Import Regulations, while good things, will not allow for these car attributes at the price point I bought them at.I think I will go shop a GT-R.
  • Lou_BC Honda plans on investing 15 billion CAD. It appears that the Ontario government and Federal government will provide tax breaks and infrastructure upgrades to the tune of 5 billion CAD. This will cover all manufacturing including a battery plant. Honda feels they'll save 20% on production costs having it all localized and in house.As @ Analoggrotto pointed out, another brilliant TTAC press release.
  • 28-Cars-Later "Its cautious approach, which, along with Toyota’s, was criticized for being too slow, is now proving prescient"A little off topic, but where are these critics today and why aren't they being shamed? Why are their lunkheaded comments being memory holed? 'Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.' -Orwell, 1984
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