Ford Fiesta 2012 News

The mid-cycle facelift is only going to be minor, but the nose will get a sharper look with LED daytime running lamps and Ford is planning a 1.0-litre EcoBoost engine - although this is not confirmed for Australia.

... rival the prices on the BMW options' list for things like salad and spuds.So it's no surprise that the top end of town calls the shots at the Palexpo alongside Geneva Airport as Europe's carmakers go head-to-head for the first time in 2012. Ferrari and Lamborghini battle for go-faster bragging rights as Rolls-Royce and Bentley get serious about family motoring for the ultra-rich, while Infiniti pitches an new exotic coupe and even Ssangyong of Korea goes upmarket with a new concept. There are also dozens of one-off dream machines and hotrod tuner cars in Geneva, a show that is traditionally dominated by European design stars including Pininfarina and Giugiaro. But there is plenty, too, for ordinary car buyers as the Fiesta ST brakes cover, Hyundai updates the i20 and teases with the Veloster Turbo, Jaguar confirms an XF station wagon, Audi and Mercedes-Benz previews their A3 and A-Class, and Ford even updates its box-boring Transit workhorse. Picking the best of the best is tough with so much gorgeous stuff on the stands, but Alfa Romeo is the winner for 2012 and edges out the Infiniti Emerge-E with its Disco Volante.The pretty little red coupe is dreamy without being stupid and is already confirmed for production, although the slightly-retro body will be draped over Alfa's existing 8C Competizione chassis - 4.7-litre V8, 335kW, 0-100km/h in 4.2 seconds - which means it's no chance for Australia with only left-hand drive.The Ferrari F12 is exactly what you expect from the fastest car to wear the badge - 340km/h and 0-100km/h in 3.1 seconds - including a swoopy body that taps the past as well as the influences that created the California convertible, but Lamborghini goes even better with an Aventador J preview car that is snapped up for a rumoured $2.8 million ahead of genuine production of an open-topped Aventador supercar.Rolls-Royce updates the Phantom with a new nose that still demands respect, as well as tweaking its colour choices with a two-tone approach that triggers memories of cheap seventies vinyl roofs, and Jaguar gets serious for families with an XF Sportbrake that will still struggle in a world of SUVs.Further down the food chain, the Audi A3 looks good but not as edgy as an A-Class that must break away from the bus pass generation into something closer to the Y-Gen futurists, and Volkswagen previews a more car-like Tiguan crossover with its Cross Coupe.Hyundai has a preview of a new flagship coupe called the i-oniq - did it mean ironic? - Kia shows a Track'ster that will become the new Soul, Honda shows the CR-V design that's coming to Australia, and the pocket rocket Ford Fiesta ST breaks cover with a confirmation for Australia.The action and excitement at Geneva goes on and on, and that is - really - the best thing about the show. Detroit in January hinted that the word's carmakers are finally emerging from the austerity and fear of the global financial crisis and the big-spending effort in Geneva confirms it, with good news for almost everyone from Euro billionaires to ordinary Aussie families.PG PICKS:1. Bentley EXP 9 F.Only one word fits - Ugly. With a big capital U. The hulking British bulldog might tick the boxes for cashed-up families, but this SUV makes a LandCruiser look elegant, and subtle.2. Giugiaro Brivido.Exactly what you expect to see in Geneva, as designers go all-out to impress the crowds - and each other. Not for production but a great looker with huge gullwing doors.3. Range Rover Evoque Convertible. A certainty for production as Land Rover milks its most successful design - ever. This one will never go bush but is being fast tracked for Double Bay and Toorak.4. Ssangyong XIV-2. Who knew the South Koreans could trump the Euros with a design that combines SUV practicality with a coupe-convertible body? A big surprise.5. Toyota FT-Bh: Just when you thought the uglies were done, Toyota lobbed with this. If it's the future for hybrid cars then sales will be slow. Very slow.

He is joining drift king Ken Block in a two-car Monster attack on the third round of the World Rally Championship, looking to revive a career that stalled when Subaru withdrew from the title fight.Atkinson has been a close mate of the sideways American star for several years and hopes to compete in three WRC events this year in a Monster Ford Fiesta identical to Block's speed machine.The Queenslander is making final preparations for the rally today but took time out to give Carsguide readers an exclusive sneak peak at how his rally racer looks for Mexico.

Kids aren’t usually a factor in Car of the Year judging.  But child friendliness rates highly with women buying cars – and with women judging cars.The countdown has been kicked off to decide the Women’s World Car of the Year, and the kid factor is one the judges pay a lot of attention to.“Statistics show that women drive children in cars significantly more often than men – and that means women need to take that into account, both when buying and as judges of cars,” WCOTY president Sandy Myhre said from New Zealand.“Any woman who has grappled constantly with child seats and belts and children considers those things when looking at buying a car.  Men might too but the fact is, women drive children in cars more than men.“Women would not consider that aspect in a Porsche 911 more than a bloke. The point is, it can be considered in these awards - and that is one of the points of difference in these awards.”Myhre points out that significant research into buying habits show that in addition to buying for themselves, women have a major influence in household purchase decisions for big ticket items.Ford Australia, for example, says their research shows that women are behind the majority of purchases of the Territory SUV – either as single women buying one, or in influencing the joint decision with their partner. “A report from Mattingly & Associates in Australia concluded, in part, that businesses that didn't understand this influence would be hard-pressed to stay in business.  That report was aptly called 'When I've Made Up Our Minds',” Myhre says.However, the kid factor is just one of the criteria by which the 2012 Women’s World Car of the Year will be judged.There are four categories in the Women's World Car of the Year – Family Car, Luxury Car, Sports Car and Economy Car. Points are allocated to each of ten criteria: driveability, engineering, comfort, child friendliness, style, interior, storage, dashboard efficiency, carbon footprint and colour range.The 20 judges from eleven countries have submitted their own personal short list and more than 300 cars were suggested. These individual choices were then whittled down to form a master list of 32 in terms of popularity. Judges will now allocate points for these cars from a criteria list.The announcement of the winning cars in each category and the supreme winner will be made before the end of March. The supreme award trophy and category certificates will be presented to the car companies concerned at the Mondial de l’Automobile 2012 – the Paris Motor Show – in September. The supreme trophy will this year be made in The Netherlands. Category-winner certificates will be designed at Peartree Studios in Colerne, UK.The first winner of the Women's World Car of the Year was the Jaguar XF in 2010 and the trophy made in South Africa was presented at the Jaguar boutique showroom in Knightsbridge, London. In 2011 there was a dead-heat between the Citroen DS3 and the BMW 5 Series. The two trophies made in India were presented at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September 2011. 

Bill Ford will deliver the keynote address to the 2012 Mobile World Congress on February 27 in Barcelona, Spain, outlining the company's future vision for smart transportation and personal mobility.Mr Ford will be the first automotive leader to deliver a keynote address to the Mobile World Congress which is among the world's most influential mobile technology events.He will discuss how technology and innovation can enhance personal freedom and mobility despite increasing vehicle populations and rapid urbanisation.The address follows announcement at Detroit motor show that Ford will invest a further $103 million in clean technology and additional upgrades across the locally-produced Falcon and Territory lines.The investment could enhance the competitiveness of Falcon and Territory by further reducing CO2 emissions and improving Falcon's safety profile. The upgraded models will be launched in 2014 and will take Falcon through to at least the end of 2016.

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.

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."

Ford Australia decided to pass on the LPG-powered baby car to concentrate on Econetic, the fuel-efficiency sub-brand it will eventually migrate throughout its showroom models. The Econetic Fiesta is already tested and confirmed as Australia's most fuel-efficient new car - even topping the Toyota Prius hybrid - and demand is so strong that Ford cannot get sufficient stocks, even though the car is relatively costly at $24,990. The president of Ford Australia, Marin Burela, was part of the original Fiesta development team in Europe before returning home for the top job and knows all the detail on the LPG program. "I'm very familiar with the Fiesta LPG. At the time of developing Fiesta, I was adamant that we had to deliver Econetic and LPG derivatives," Burela says.  "The LPG was specifically targeted for Italy, the Netherlands - not as strong - as well as potential in the UK and a few in Germany. All of this was driven by the infrastructure that was available in Europe to support LPG and the fact that the Italian market has accepted LPG as a very viable and competitive alternative fuel."  But he says it was easy to go down the Econetic road in Australia, leaving LPG for the Falcon. "In Australia we elected to go for the Econetic derivative as our fuel leader. The strategy has worked extremely well with demand for the vehicle exceeding supply."  Despite the potential for a gas-powered baby car, Burela says the Fiesta is not currently on the shopping list. "At this stage we have no plans to introduce a LPG derivative," he says.  "However, as always  . . .  you never say never in our business. As we continue to evolve our plans we will continue to watch this space.  "The market will tell us if there is any potential for a LPG derivative in the future."

Not only does the new Ford Fiesta Econetic turbo-diesel beat the Toyota Prius on price, but it is also more fuel-efficient. The Econetic goes on sale from December 1 with a drive-away price of $24,990 - $15,000 cheaper than the cheapest Prius hybrid. It also wins the fuel economy battle with a combined fuel economy figure of just 3.7 litres/100km, .02 of a litre better than the Prius. By Ford's own estimates, the Econetic will travel more than 1000km between refills. The newest Ford is also only the second car in Australia to achieve a greenhouse gas emission rating under 100g/km and the only non-hybrid car to get a low C02 figure of 98g/km. The hybrid Prius is the other with C02 emissions of 89g/km. Ford Australia president and chief executive officer, Marin Burela, has big hopes for the 1.6-litre TDCi, which could pave the way for other Econetics. He says the company is committed to achieving "fuel economy leadership in every segment in which we compete". The Econetic has already attracted a lot of interest from both private and fleet buyers. However, Burela is not prepared to put a sales forecast on the frugal hatch. "Right now we're taking it a step at the time," he says. "We're not wanting to be too bullish." However, it is clear Burela thinks the hatch will be a winner and attract city buyers. "I think it is a game changer for us," he says. He says the car is Ford's most visible commitments to going green. The success of the Fiesta, which is a sellout, is also expected to help Econetic sales, he says. "Most cars with this level of fuel efficiencies tend to compromise," he says. "This is no compromise." The Econetic, like the petrol Fiestas, is being sourced out of Cologne in Germany. However from mid-2010 Fiestas will be imported from Thailand and benefit from the Free Trade Agreement, wich should help lower prices. There are no plans to build the Econetic in Thailand, Burela says. At the heart of the five-door is Ford's Duratorq TDCI 1.6-litre four cylinder and five-speed manual transmission. It develops 66kW at 4000 revs and 200Nm from 1750 revs. To help reduce emissions it gets a diesel particulate filter. Economy has improved through the use of low-rolling resistance Michelin tyres, a recalibrated transmission and final drive ratio and improved aerodynamics. The spare tyre has been dumped in an effort to save weight, replaced by a tyre ‘mobility kit’. Visually the car looks little different to a CL version, with steel wheels and a slightly lower ride high. The cabin remains the same, except for a green shift light indicator in the dials. And if the Fiesta Econetic takes off, Ford has more ultra-frugal diesels waiting in the wings. In Europe Econetic versions of the Focus and Mondeo are available. Burela says they could be easily added to the lineup. "We'll wait and see how the Fiesta goes first," he says. Ford executives will be watching Toyota's rollout of the hybrid Camry next year with strong interest before formulating a response. However, Burela says any fuel efficient strategy "must go down that path of affordable economy". Make One Degree of difference today by calculating your carbon footprint and finding out what you can do to reduce it.

The same technology that gives the Fiesta diesel a fuel economy figure of just 3.7 litres/100km is expected to make it into other Fords.Ford Australia president and CEO Burela admits that he would like to see a whole range of ECOnetic Fords.In the UK, ECOnetic models are available in Fiesta, Focus and Mondeo."We're looking and studying that as an option but it's too early to say," he says."We'll start off with the Fiesta though."Full local specifications and ECOnetic pricing will be released closer to the hatches on sale date around October.In the UK the five-door ECOnetic is $1000 less than the five-speed manual Titanium 1.6-litre petrol hatch, which closely equates to the Australian-spec $20,990 Zetec 1.6 five-speed.Burela describes the Fiesta ECOnetic is "an economy car without compromise".Since its launch in Janaury, the petrol Fiesta is proving a big hit for Ford.Demand is outstripping supply, particularly for Zetec models."We think that with the ECOnetic that will take that to another level," Burela says.He believes buyers are ready and prepared to pay for a car like the ECOnetic."We think that we need to offer the Australia customers a choice," he says."We thought why not introduce it to the range and give the consumers the choice of where they want to go."The Fiesta ECOnetic looks and drives just like the conventional hatch, using conventional diesel powertrain technology.Power comes from a 1.6-litre TDCi diesel with a particulate filter to reduce harmful emissions.The engine develops 66kW at 4000 revs and 200Nm from just 1750 revs.Apart from its hybrid-busting fuel economy, the modern direct-injection diesel has a C02 emissions figure of just 98 g/km.Burela says the car has the potential to deliver best-in-class CO2 emissions compared to the current crop of competitive vehicles, as well as against today's most popular hybrids.Apart from the specially calibrated diesel, the car uses low rolling resistance tyres, aerodynamic aids, longer final drive gear ratio and 10mm lower suspension for reduced drag.The driver also gets a green shift indicator light in the instrument cluster, which signals the best gear change point to maximise fuel economy.To help reduce weight there is a tyre mobility kit rather than a traditional spacesaver spare.Make One Degree of difference today by calculating your carbon footprint and finding out what you can do to reduce it.