CONFIRMED: Ford Fiesta coming to America, hope for Mondeo

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Ford of Europe chairman Lewis Booth confirmed today that the next-generation Ford Fiesta for the European market will be brought to us folks in small car-starved North America. In truth, we're not actually starved for small cars in North America, we're just starved for good small cars like the Ford Fiesta and other European B-class models. The current model is well received in its native market, while the next generation model will be based off of the same platform used by the new Mazda2 that's being debuted publicly for the first time in Geneva tomorrow. The question remains whether Ford will substantially alter the design of the Euro model before it makes its transatlantic voyage, but considering how little money Ford has to spare, as well as how good the current designs are coming out of Ford Europe, we'd guess the models will be very similar.

Booth also commented that platform sharing between Ford's North American and European operations could extend all the way up to the Mondeo. For the first time we've gotten an indication of how that might work. Booth says that since the Fusion has just been launched, it likely won't be until the new sedan has gone through at least one full product cycle that the two cars can be merged. By that time, we'll either be getting the new Mondeo in the twilight of its own product cycle or an all-new Mondeo will debut on both continents.

[Source: The Detroit News]

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