Drive One! Wait, No… Ogle One!

Edward Niedermeyer
by Edward Niedermeyer
Edward Niedermeyer
Edward Niedermeyer

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  • DweezilSFV DweezilSFV on Dec 13, 2008

    Crown Vic: The Fiesta came in entirely unchanged except for US safety equipment. It couldn't even be had with an automatic. Were you referring to the first Escort ? That was Americanized to the point it shared very little with it's Euro cousins.... PeteMoran:What happened to the Falcon? After the usual bigger better heavier attack on it, the Falcon became the Maverick, which became the Fairmont, which became the Tempo, which was supersceded by the later Escorts and Contour in the corporate line up which were replaced by the Focus. [And Falcon begat Mustang and Maverick and Granada, Fairmont the LTD and Cougar, among others]. Just keep the bloody name, Ford, and keep making each generation better.What a waste of money to launch a new name every time a new model of something similar comes out.

  • Pig_Iron Pig_Iron on Dec 13, 2008

    thoots, Sorry I disagree, anybody who loves driving, and has hills, curves, and snow, will love this machine. An orange one with a sunroof please.

  • RobertSD RobertSD on Dec 13, 2008

    First, P71, there is no proof that Ford is going to ruin it in the translation. They haven't even given anyone a production version to drive. And all the test models of the Fiesta they're driving around look exactly the same as the EU version save for a minor bumper tweak for U.S. crash standards. Back it up. @ geeber Safety was actually part of the reason. Several modifications have to be made to Euro models before coming to the U.S. Safety is one of them, and an expensive and challenging one at that if you don't want to add weight or change the design. It was believed at the time of the decision that making their own vehicle would be significantly cheaper. I've pieced together a timeline from various conversations on Ford boards, but it sounds like it went like this (please, if someone knows better, correct me if I'm wrong): 1) Ford NA decides not to join the C1 program in 2001 because of the disasterous launch of the NA Focus that caused a lot of resentment. 2) Ford NA decides not to join the C1 program again in late-2004/early-2005 because they determine it will be cheaper to build their own Focus. 3) Fields returns to NA in Q4 2005, looks at plans for the Focus and sends them back to be more significantly updated. Price tag of redesign rises to what it would have been to join the C1 program initially. 4) Too late to get the C1 for 2008 without significantly more money invested, Fields makes NA join the brand-new C2 program for launch in 2010 for the 2011MY. The decision to merge with the next Euro Focus was actually made before Mulally got to Ford - by Mark Fields. The C2 program began in early/mid-2006, and Fields said NA would be on it - in fact, I think initial spec'ing of the platform began in NA either right before or right after Mulally arrived. He is also the one that got Ford NA on the Fiesta program (albeit, late). One of the primary reasons the Fiesta for the U.S. is delayed is re-engineering it for U.S. safety standards and doing some other alignment of drivetrain and interior features (transmission, SYNC, etc). And you might point to BMW and say that we don't have to wait for their vehicles, but that's because they design their vehicles from the start for both markets. Similarly, the C2 Focus will launch here within 0-3 months of the C2 Focus in Europe (timeline isn't clear) unless something unrelated to the current eng'g program gets delayed (like plant overhauls or something). Ford designed the C2 program from the start to serve the U.S. It should also help Mazda save some money as well with the new 3.

  • Alex Nigro Alex Nigro on Dec 13, 2008

    RobertSD, It's also kinda encouraging that Ford is trotting out pics of the 5-door hatchback on the official site. http://www.fordvehicles.com/2011fiesta/ Not only should the Fiesta make the Chevy Aveo a freaking embarrassing excuse for a subcompact, with a little TLC, it could even be a Mini fighter. Someone should hand Mr. Mulally the keys to a Cooper S...

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