The small car market has been rather overlooked for the sales market as we tend to move towards the larger Focus sized cars to haul the family around.
We forget that the small Fiesta has been moving the family around for 40 years. The new baby from Ford is supposed to be a small car but inside you’ll struggle to tell that it’s meant to be a city runabout. There’s plenty of room for four passengers and all their stuff for that long distance drive or just a zoom down to the shops.
It’s driver assistance features that Ford has been really pushing and among them is an enhanced Pedestrian Detection system that for the first time can help prevent collisions at night; and the first Ford Active Park Assist system that can deliver brake interventions to prevent low-speed bumps when parking hands-free. There’s also a premium B&O PLAY Sound System for those who like to bop along to the tunes.
The powertrains include Ford’s multi-award winning 1.0-litre EcoBoost petrol engine offering up to 140 PS, and a 1.5-litre TDCi diesel offering 120 PS – the first high-power diesel Fiesta powertrain.
An All-New six-speed transmission with innovative friction reduction technologies helps deliver CO2 emissions from 82 g/km, and fuel efficiency from 3.2 l/100 km. The pick of the bunch for me is the 1.0ltr Ecoboost which puts out 100ps and has the best balance of power/fuel and emissions for the money.
The prices are keen with the range starting €16,550 for the three-door 1.1ltr. The Ecoboost versions start at €19,500 and top out at €21,300 for the range-topping Titanium automatic.
The Fiesta has really moved on from its 40-year-old generation one and it’s still set to be at the top of the sales chart but this time it won’t be alone as you’ll find all the car companies putting out a small car this year. This is really good news for you the consumer because the competition is never a bad thing.
I’ll have a full drive of the new Fiesta over the coming weeks but my first impressions are very good and if you are in the market for a change then head into Downey’s Auto Stop Portlaoise for a test drive in the newest of all Fords.
SEE ALSO – Bob Flavin: The future is an electric one
