31 July 2017

New Fiesta goes on sale

Ford's new Fiesta has gone on sale in Ireland at a starting price of €16,550, writes Brian Byrne.

Ford is dubbing the latest generation of the car as 'the most technologically advanced small car in Europe'. Among the features is a pedestrian detection system that can work at night. The active park assistance now has a brake intervention that prevents low speed bumps while parking.

The new Fiesta is available at launch in Zetec and Titanium grades, with ST-Line and Vignale versions coming before the end of the year.

There are 3- and 5-door versions and there will also be a crossover variant dubbed Active, a style that will be rolled out across other models in the Ford range.

The performance ST version will arrive in 2018.

According to Ciaran McMahon, MD and Chairman of Ford Ireland, the company expects some 3,500 units of the new car to be registered in 2018.

He also described the positioning of what is an iconic car in the Ford range as 'to the next level'.

"It has a lovable, fun and sporty character, and is now available with a greater choice of models than ever before," he says. "And it now has advanced technologies and features which small car customers could only have dreamed of just a few years ago."

The upshift of the Fiesta coincides with the recent release of the Ka+ small car, which is offering a better entry level experience in a small but important segment in Ireland.

"We're looking at sales of 600 Ka+s next year. The fact that it is a 5-door and larger than the previous Ka is making all the difference to how the car is perceived."