Ford Fiesta 2010 News

Ford’s Fiesta ST is already arguably the king of the light hot hatch set, but a new report out of the UK suggests that an even hotter RS version is under development. AutoExpress suggests that a RS-badged Fiesta could be followed by the much-anticipated third-generation Focus RS, if a business case can be made for the models. Ford has been toying with the idea of a Fiesta RS since at least 2004, with a pumped-up concept based on the previous generation model shown at the Geneva motor show that year. Stranding in the way of the number crunchers though is the current economic woes of the Ford hatches’ European-market heartland, and the plans are reportedly far from being locked in. If a green light is given, tradition suggests we’ll see the new RS models towards the end of the Fiesta and Focus model life cycles, which could result in a Fiesta RS arriving at least 12 months ahead of as Focus RS – and as soon as 2015. The likely power source for a Fiesta RS would be an uprated version of the ST’s 134kW/240Nm 1.6-litre turbo, producing in the order of 172kW to trump the existing 160kW/320Nm Mountune-enhanced version available overseas.  A tricky diff is possible to help put such power to the ground, along with widened tracks, monster brakes, and pumped wheelarches and other agressive body enhancements to help link it with the RS-liveried Fiesta WRC racer. Development mules have already been sighted of a Focus with the same treatment, with the likely motive source a version of the 2015 Mustang’s circa-227kW 2.3 litre EcoBoost engine. This reporter is on Twitter: @Mal_Flynn  

Scheduled to go on sale here towards the middle of 2013, the Ford Fiesta range will kick off with the tiny 1.0-litre turbocharged three-cylinder EcoBoost engine that claimed the World Engine of the Year award a few months ago. “We’ve confirmed the three-cylinder turbo for the Fiesta,” Ford spokesman Neil McDonald says. “Originally it was going to be the EcoSport SUV  but Fiesta will beat it to market by several months. The turbocharged engine is offered in two levels -- 74kW/170Nm and 92kW/200Nm – but there’s no indication yet of whether we will get both. “It’s a little bit early to talk what the engine line-up will be,” McDonald says, although agreeing there would have to be consideration of whether the local market would go for two 1.0-litre versions or would expect to see a larger unit in the upper spec cars. The leaked official images show the main styling changes are focused on the nose, which gets the Aston Martin-flavoured grille shape -- already worn by the overseas Ford Fusion (Mondeo) – set off with a new front bumper and headlight clusters featuring LED running lights. McDonald says it’s also too early to discuss whether price and specification levels will change markedly from the current range, which opens with the $16,990 CL and tops out at the $23,490 Zetec – or whether they will be joined by the Fiesta ST seen overseas. “There’s been a Fiesta ST concept vehicle shown in Europe but we haven’t confirmed it for here,” he says. “For the rest of the range, it’s too far out to talk about price, but we plan to remain competitive. The Fiesta has been doing quite well -- around the 700 per month. It’s been a pretty strong seller for us.” While the release of fresh metal can often mean extra demand that constrains supply of some imported cars, McDonald points out Asian production means it won’t be a problem for the Fiesta. “Our vehicles are built in Thailand so I don’t think supply is going to be an issue,” he says.  

A street version of its Fiesta RS World Rally Championship weapon for 2011 is "under consideration'' - the first sign that the Blue Oval is prepared to rekindle memories of the XR4 edition of the early 2000s. "We would love a high-performance Fiesta,'' says Ford Australia's general marketing manager David Katic.  "We're looking at al opportunities (the WRC car can bring)." He describes the XR4 as a "great car''.  But no-one at Ford Australia is talking about timing, pricing or even the name. It is possible it could wear the ST moniker to share with the hot Focus hatch that is also a possible for Australia. The talk in Europe about a hot Fiesta is stronger. Spy shots show a three-door hatch with twin exhausts and an intercooler peeking through the front bumper inlets. It is believed that adding the turbocharger and intercooler to the 1.6-litre engine will produce up to 130kW. That should be sufficient for a 0-100km/h time of about six seconds. The hot Fiesta would be built in Europe, alongside the ECOnetic diesel. Other Fiesta models for Australia are now made in Thailand.

Molly Taylor, 22, of Armidale in NSW, and Brendan Reeves, 22, of Wedderburn in Victoria, have won two of six coveted spots to race a Ford Fiesta R2 in six World Rally Championship events next year. They won their places in the WRC Rally Academy with impressive performances in a 16-team Pirelli Star Driver Shootout in Spain at the weekend."I am overwhelmed and incredibly excited," says Taylor who drives with her mother, Coral, reading the pace notes. "It's not every day an opportunity like this comes along! I don't think it has fully sunk in yet. My focus has always been working towards the WRC, so to be sitting here today knowing that this is actually a reality is surreal. This is just the beginning and the hard work starts now, I'm buzzing."Taylor began rallying in 2005 and has won two state titles, two Australian Rally F16 Championships and is the 2009 British Ladies Rally Champion. Reeves also started rallying in 2005 after karting and has won several rallies, scored a class second in Targa Tasmania last year and has been racing this year in the Australia Pacific Rally Championship with navigator Rhianon Smyth, 29. He was the first selected to join the inaugural WRC Rally Academy, a new series replacing the Junior World Rally Championship."This is a dream come true for me," he says. "I'm still pinching myself but I realise that the hard work hasn't even started yet."The global Pirelli Star Driver Shootout involved three days of lectures, driving tests on gravel and tarmac, and media presentations.

The three brands are all gearing-up for a major attack on next year's new-age world championship, which will be open to smaller cars with smaller 1.6-litre turbocharged engines.Downsizing in the series means Citroen is switching to its C3, Ford is moving from the Focus to the Fiesta, and Mini is coming back to rallying for the first time since the 1960s with its Countryman.Ford already knows it has a winner in the Fiesta, which claimed the Monte Carlo Rally this year without a turbocharged engine. It is shown in Paris just a week before Ford begins testing for next year's championship, when it will try to snap Sebastian Loeb's six-year run as world championship with Citroen."Countless hours have gone into the Fiesta RS WRC to reach this point, and for the car to be unveiled in public for the first time is a proud moment for us.  We are right on track with our development and the team is delighted with testing to date," says Ford's rally boss, Malcolm Wilson.Its Citroen rival is already testing and picks up the basic mechanical package from the successful C4, with aero tweaking to the DS3 body including wider guards, a giant rear wing and cooling vents in the body.  But the rally star in Paris is the Mini, which is unveiled by FIA president and former rally co-driver Jean Todt.“The response to our announcement that Mini will return to the world of rallying next year was very positive. The FIA World Rally Championship is the pinnacle of rallying, making it the ideal platform for demonstrating the competitive spirit of our brand," says Mini's global marketing boss, Ian Robertson.The Countryman is massively tweaked for rallying and is displayed in Paris with giant front and rear wings, a bank of bonnet-mounted spotlights and a stripped-out cabin.The car is developed by Prodrive, the British motorsport operation that also runs Ford Performance Racing in the V8 Supercar championship, and has already run well in testing.  But Mini is unlikely to challenge Citroen and Ford in the early events of the 2011 WRC, which begins in Sweden in February.

It's a mix of motor shows, motorsport, new-car arrivals and showroom selling silliness.  Already we've got news of new price leaders from Ford and Volkswagen, with a bottom line of $16,990 for the updated Thai-built Fiesta and a $21,990 Golf.But the real action this week is in Paris, where the world's carmakers are gathered for the biggest motor show of 2010. Detroit in January was reasonably solid, and Los Angeles in November promises to be optimistic, but the Paris Auto Salon is all about the ongoing recovery of the big brands and the design enthusiasm of the major European makes.Electric cars top the bill but there are also newcomers from Ferrari and Lamborghini and Maserati, all sorts of city runabouts, and technology that highlights the improvements we can expect over the next 10 years.  Carsguide has a full coverage of the show next week, with early news on www.carsguide.com.au, but by then we'll be into the build-up to The Big One at Bathurst.This year's Mount Panorama classic promises to be an all-action event and no-one is betting against a sentimental victory by veterans Mark Skaife and Craig Lowndes. The pair have already won the traditional Bathurst 1000 curtain-raiser at Phillip Island and have everything they need to take the V8 Supercar grand final.But there are at least another six crews who are capable of fighting through the final hour, with James Courtney promising something special in his Jim Beam Falcon and two-time champion Jamie Whincup doing all he can to take maximum points in his fight for a third straight title with TeamVodafone.Just days after the Bathurst 1000 the motoring spotlight shifts to Sydney and the first running of the Australian International Motor Show.  The first truly national show is looking like a boomer, with all sorts of previews and new releases. The calendar is so crowded that Toyota will reveal its show star, the FT-86 sports coupe concept, on Monday of show week, a full five days before the public opening.Once the show is done the action gets back on track with the Gold Coast 600, a new-age V8 Supercar contest that promises to re-write the rules. Nineteen of the world's top drivers are coming to take guest spots with the the teams - including former world champion Jacques Villeneuve and transplanted Aussie stars Will Power, Ryan Briscoe and David Brabham - in an event that will revitalise what was previously the Gold Coast Indy event.While all this is happening, Mark Webber is out fighting for the world championship.  The long-time Formula One underdog finally has a winning car in 2010 and has been doing plenty of good stuff, even salvaging third place - and defending his title lead - in the Singapore Grand Prix despite a weekend he describes as the worst of the season.Webber is basing himself in Australia for the next few weeks, to make an easier time-zone transit to races in Korea and Japan, and is looking more and more like our first world champion since Alan Jones.

Early start from Dublin on the super swift Irish Ferries cat. There was talk last night of bad weather and having to go on the slightly slower ferry but this morning it was all blue sky.

The stars were fading and the grey dawn slowly started to lighten.  Sipping tea from thick china mugs we watched the world wake up, before piling into the cars and setting off for the long drive to San Marcos.And despite the early hour, it was stunningly beautiful. We passed through proper cowboy movie terrain – rough peaks that plunged into low valleys where, if you squinted, you could almost make out the Lone Ranger silhouetted against the skyline on his trusty Trigger.The road twisted and turned, carving its way through the hills, until we emerged onto a flat plain which was bathed in a milky glow that crept to the distant hazy mountains. Overhead an eagle soared lazily and we felt like the only people in the world.Of course, this being Texas, the road was not entirely romantic. Every so often we would come across a squashed animal of some kind: a coyote, some racoon, a skunk. And we’d pull through yet more one-horse towns where crumbling buildings rotted gently on the outskirts.But it was a good drive today. And we made it to San Marcos in plenty of time for Scott Wade to do his thing. Altogether satisfactory.Follow the FORD FIESTA WORLD TOUR here!

Ford has switched the source of its Fiesta hatch and new sedan to the shared Ford/Mazda factory in Rayong. But Ford Australia marketing general manager David Katic is coy about speculation over the future supplier of Australian Focus variants. "We haven't said anything about Focus and we're not going to," he says. But the Blue Oval is building a new $500-million factory adjacent to its AAT Rayong plant to build Focus for the Asia-Pacific region, which would logically include Australia. Currently the Focus models sold in Australia are shipped from Pretoria in South Africa - although it was planned to build them at Broadmeadows until those plans were canned last year. "We've had some supply issues with Focus out of South Africa, and that high variation of Focus sales is a result of that," Ratic says. "If you speak to our dealers about that they would say they just need to get some more... we haven't been able to get consistent supply, we're hoping to get some consistency," he says. The company is getting cost and tax gains from bringing the Fiesta into Australia from Thailand and would benefit from a similar price break with a Focus sourced from the same region. The company is keen to increase its small car slice of the market, starting with cutting order turnaround times and increased supply to get more cars to consumers. "We're at the stage where our dealers can't aggressively market the Fiesta product because they haven't got them - our dealers will be able to carry more stock. They are desperate for more stock because they see people come through the showroom door every day looking for a car quickly, the dealers are excited because they know what it means for supply for them," he says. "We're changing sources but they haven't just taken the European car and started building it here, they've improved it and we're confident that we're getting a better car with more features and we'll do even better," he says. The Ford small car hero, Fiesta Econetic, remains a European sourced vehicle but is expected to receive some of the spec upgrades of the Thai-built Fiesta later this year. Katic says the frugal diesel has made big changes to the Ford brand image and the brand was looking at ways to expand the Econetic. "We did some research just after we launched that car, people were saying that they had no idea Ford had this sort of capability when it comes to green, that's why we see the Econetic tag as a powerful thing going forward," he says. "We're looking at strong, fuel-saving technologies across the range, however we get there, Econetic or something else ... the Fiesta has told us there is a strong market there for us."

Or more truthfully, the 'Gateway to Death Valley' – baking Baker, a small town whose sole reason for existence is the world’s tallest thermometer.