Geneva '08 Preview: 2009 Ford Fiesta is filled with Verve!
by Sam Abuelsamid on Feb 14th 2008 at 8:09PM 
click above for more high-res pics of the 2009 Ford Fiesta
With two and a half weeks to go before the Geneva Motor Show, Ford has finally released details on the production version of its new global small car. After the Verve concept debuted at the Frankfurt Motor Show last September, the speculation began about what it'd be called when it arrived in showrooms. Ford's marketing team decided that more than three decades of brand equity was too much to throw away, so this car will be called the Fiesta everywhere in the world that it's sold, including the United States. US fans probably shouldn't get too attached to the 3-door hatchback shown above, though, as it's all but certain that we'll be getting a four-door sedan instead.
As spy photos in recent months have indicated, the production Fiesta stays remarkably true to the Verve concept. Aside from some detailing of the light clusters and framed side glass replacing the concept's flush glazing, the production car is virtually identical to the concept on the outside. This good news continues when you open the door, as the basic interior design is the same as the concept's, but with slightly less flashy-looking switchgear. Underhood, the Fiesta gets a range of five gasoline and diesel-fueled four-cylinder engines. Like the new Mazda2 with which it shares its architecture, the Fiesta is the same size as the car it's replacing, but high-strength steels allow it to be lighter. Production kicks off this fall in Cologne, Germany, to be followed by a second assembly plant in Spain. An Asian facility will be announced at the Beijing show in April, while a site for North American models will be announced later. We have bemoaned the dearth of small car choices here in the US and vilified Ford for keeping its Euro offerings away from us for a long time here at Autoblog. While we still have a bit longer to wait, the emergence of the new production Fiesta is reason to be very enthused. Put simply, it's exactly what we've been asking for. And it's coming.
Gallery: 2009 Ford Fiesta
[Source: Ford]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 6)
MemphisNET 6:05PM (2/14/2008)
Good on Ford for getting this out the door. It can't come fast enough! Great looking small car.
Hopefully us Canadian's will get the hatch, since we actually buy them :D
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Judy Zik 8:07PM (2/14/2008)
I'll second that. A hot little hatch would be so cool (especially now that the Focus is trunk only). Little hatchbacks certainly can sell. Look at the Fit. Honda can't build them fast enough.
AlexP 6:06PM (2/14/2008)
Holy sh*t.
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Tagg 6:07PM (2/14/2008)
To those who said Ford would screw it up and that the mule pics can eat your words. This is a great looking car and with the good reaction to the Verve in the U.S. little will change on that U.S. version.
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psarhjinian 10:07PM (2/14/2008)
We're getting the sedan only. I count that as a big screw up.
Tagg 6:11PM (2/14/2008)
Whoops! In my excitement I butchered that post!
Many people said that when the mule pics were posted that it proved Ford would ruin the car. Well, enjoy the final product.
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noreasony 6:13PM (2/14/2008)
Im tearing up, what a great looking car....but please please give us the hatch back!!! give it four doors i dont care!!!!
Im tired of pointless sedans!!! take a hint from the versa and yaris sedans.... they look awkward IMO...
HATCH HATCH HATCH
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slim 10:29PM (2/14/2008)
yeah, c'mon ford don't give us just a geriatric sedan. hatch it up baby
3cubed minus 3squared plus1 6:13PM (2/14/2008)
Thats pretty nice. As long as they give us a five door hatchback, I'll forgive them if they don't bring the three door.
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Andrew L 6:17PM (2/14/2008)
It's funny.... We had the Fiesta here in the US and it didn't sell too well so they discontinued it... now that they've made it attractive all of a sudden everyone wants it back....
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Seoultrain 6:51PM (2/14/2008)
crappy car gets ignored, good car is wanted.
I fail to see the humor..
Judy Zik 8:21PM (2/14/2008)
We had the Kia built Ford rebadged Festiva (Kia Pride) and that was 15 years ago. It didn't sell because it was a crappy Korean Kia with a Ford badge slapped on it. We have never had the Ford Fiesta. It is a European Ford car that is smaller than the Focus. Miles ahead of a Festiva.
500 12:05PM (2/15/2008)
Wrong Judy, you're either too young to have been around, or just don't remember. The first-generation Fiesta was sold in the US from 1978-80. I remember seeing quite a few of them at the time, but I'm sure they're quite rare now.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Fiesta
m 6:17PM (2/14/2008)
It looks really good if you ignore the GIANT headlight housings and the huge front overhang. We'll see if Ford can manage to ruin it before the sell it in their home country.
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geo.stewart 6:18PM (2/14/2008)
I would like the 3-door. The rear overhang on the sedan concept was just too much.
if they are making the sedan version here, then meeting US regs on the hatch cant be too much, and the stampings are already created if done for other markets, so offer a limited supply to the US and see if the demand goes up. If Ford would sell this and an ABAT fighter/ Ranger replacement, I would have a field day at the ford dealership in 3 yrs when Iget bit by the bug again. I'd buy 2 small vehicles instead of something bigger.
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ed 6:18PM (2/14/2008)
Is that a NAV screen above the center console? I hope "we'll make global cars" means that it will look like this in the US. I 'm really hoping that i doesn't get the ugly stick look (I'm looking at you Focus "bold an nascar" theme fords likes so much). I'm hoping/praying/sacrificing goats so that it doesn't get the front end of the focus. I like projector headlights, I like this grill. And please no fake engine vents.
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nardi 6:19PM (2/14/2008)
Small 4 door sedans are pointless (Yarris 4 door, I rest my point), small cars NEED to be a hatch to be useable, plus they look soooo much cooler. 5 doors for the regular and 3 doors for the Hot version.
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Ligor 6:22PM (2/14/2008)
now that is one good looking little car - inside and out
please adopt that interior design for the Fusion/Mustang/Edge adn we might just have a Ford that we all would like to buy, instead of one that we can live with if we had to have one
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Chris Vitale 6:22PM (2/14/2008)
I like the car. I hate the name.
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West 6:23PM (2/14/2008)
Bwahahaha! "three decades of brand equity"
'scuse me, but I have seen three decades of Fiesta's, and it has been three decades of suck.
Marketeers.
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