Q.Ford Fiesta Unveiled

TheophillusChin is turning out to be one of my favourite artists of all time. Couple of days after the Fiesta hatchback was unveiled, he has imagined how the Fiesta sedan could look like - if Ford decides to make it once again. [ATTACH=CONFIG]n21573[/ATTACH] [I]Picture courtesy: [/I][I]theophiluschin[/I] [ATTACH=CONFIG]n21574[/ATTACH] The older Fiesta sedan had a miserable start in the country mainly because of the price. An even better looking facelift came a couple of years later with a lesser price tag, but this didn't excite Ford fanboys enough. The only problem I had with the last generation sedan was the way the boot was integrated. The car looked wide and sporty from the front but the narrow looking rear with the high set boot didn;t help its styling one bit. This render by Theophilus Chin makes looks pretty good in my opinion. The rear is no longer narrow and the height of the boot is just about perfect. The tail lamps are horizontally placed and looks sharper than the older car. I really wish Ford makes this sedan for India and re-introduce it. It might fail again because the new car doesn't look all that different from the older one and hence may not be to everyone's taste. But I do wish Ford really does some market research and find it compelling enough to bring it to India. Let's hope for the best.

Here is a first look video of the new 2017 Ford Fiesta done by Carwow. I agree with @Nikil that Ford should definitely bring in the Fiesta hatch to rival the premium hatchbacks in India. [youtube_video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BghSKAK06QY[/youtube_video]

[I][B]And Here's Why We Badly Need One[/B][/I] [SIZE=12px]Ford unveiled the all-new Fiesta hatchback yesterday and here’s why I think Ford India should seriously consider bringing UK’s best-selling car to our shores. In the UK, the Fiesta was launched in the mid-1970s and has sold over 17 million units since. In India, however, Ford decided to slap a boot and sell it as an alternative to the Hyundai Verna and the Honda City. Though the Fiesta was a brilliant car, it bombed because of the absurd pricing and the not so spacious interior. Now, with the rising popularity of premium hatchbacks like the Maruti Suzuki Baleno and the Hyundai Elite i20, the Indian car market looks ready for another premium offering.[/SIZE] [SIZE=12px][ATTACH=CONFIG]n21315[/ATTACH][/SIZE] [SIZE=12px]For [/SIZE][SIZE=12px]UK[/SIZE][SIZE=12px], the Fiesta will be available with three- and five-doors. The new Fiesta is slightly bigger than the car it replaces so it should be an ideal match for the Baleno. The older Fiesta had outdated technology like the infotainment system that [/SIZE][SIZE=12px]aped[/SIZE][SIZE=12px] a mobile phone with physical buttons. This, at a time when other manufacturers started offering touchscreens, [/SIZE][SIZE=12px]spelled[/SIZE][SIZE=12px] doom for the Fiesta. With the new version, things are certainly looking brighter. The new car gets an 8-inch floating centre screen that looks way better than the Baleen’s and also gets Ford’s SYNC3 software that is likely to debut with the Ford EcoSport facelift. The screen is said to be far more responsive and if Ford’s claims are to be believed, it will have “the highest resolution in the industry”. The voice-recognition software, which is a bit cumbersome to use in the EcoSport, is also said to be vastly improved. In the UK, customers can even spec a Bang & Olufsen music system.[/SIZE] [SIZE=12px][ATTACH=CONFIG]n21316[/ATTACH][/SIZE] [SIZE=12px]But forget the features for a moment. The new Fiesta still impresses with a slew of advanced safety technology like blind-spot monitoring, blind-spot warning, [/SIZE][SIZE=12px]lane-keep[/SIZE][SIZE=12px] assist, lane departure warning, cross-traffic warning while reversing, active parking with perpendicular capability, adaptive cruise control and an impressive collision mitigation system which can sense an impending collision from as far as 130 metres. Now, most of these features may not make it here simply because the competition doesn’t offer them. But with stricter regulations for 2017, I think Ford has a chance here to impress Indian consumers with the level of safety their cars have.[/SIZE] [SIZE=12px]Since Ford already has the Figo to take care of the volumes, the Fiesta can be positioned as a more premium offering. It has a good cabin after all. I think it looks much better than [/SIZE][SIZE=12px]either[/SIZE][SIZE=12px] the Baleno or the Elite i20. The picture below is of the ultra-luxurious Vignale spec's cabin: [ATTACH=CONFIG]n21319[/ATTACH][/SIZE] [SIZE=12px][I][B]From L to R:[/B] Fiesta Active, Fiesta ST-Line, Fiesta Vignale and the Fiesta Titanium[/I][/SIZE] [SIZE=12px][ATTACH=CONFIG]n21317[/ATTACH][/SIZE] [SIZE=12px]Being a Ford, expect it to handle better than either the Baleno or the Elite i20 (yes, I’m a big Ford fan but trust me I’m not being biased here!). In the UK, the Fiesta will be available in four variants - Titanium, ST-Line, ST and the top-of-the-line Vignale. A crossover version should be available soon too. In terms of powertrain, [/SIZE][SIZE=12px]the engines for the UK are quite familiar to us as well. The petrol variant will be powered by the 1.0-litre EcoBoost turbo-charged three-cylinder engine available in three states of tune - 100PS, 125PS and 140PS - while the diesel is the strong 1.5-litre TDCi engine that is available on the Figo and the EcoSport.[/SIZE] [SIZE=12px][ATTACH=CONFIG]n21318[/ATTACH] I think Ford should seriously consider bringing the 5-door Fiesta hatchback in India as I believe it has the potential to take on the Baleno and the Elite i20 and claim the segment for itself. If only Ford had the same amount of confidence in their products as I do… [I]Ford Fiesta ST-Line is just a preview to what the hotter ST version could look like.[/I] [ATTACH=CONFIG]n21320[/ATTACH] [I]In the UK, the Vignale will be the most expensive Fiesta you can buy. This version comes with ultra-luxe bits on the inside.[/I] [ATTACH=CONFIG]n21321[/ATTACH][/SIZE]