Ford's New Year Fiesta

The Age

Saturday December 13, 2008

Jaedene Hudson

FORD has a lot riding on its all-new Fiesta hatch, which goes on sale in January as the company's most affordable vehicle. The self-confessed Falcon car company needs the Fiesta to work and compete with the Toyota Yaris, Mazda2, Honda Jazz and Hyundai Getz.

The Fiesta has never come close to the top sellers in the class. At 5874 sales (to the end of November), the Fiesta is outsold by six competitors in the class.

The all-new Fiesta, however, comes with a bold new look, more equipment and a tweaked model line-up. There are three and five-door body styles and three equipment levels: CL, LX and Zetec.

The range starts at $15,750 for the new three-door CL model, $18,490 for the LX and $20,250 for the Zetec. The Ghia nameplate won't continue with the new generation.

A 1.6-litre four-cylinder is mated to a five-speed manual gearbox or there's an optional four-speed automatic transmission ($1500) matched to a 1.4-litre engine.

The 1.6 has 88kW of power and 152Nm of torque. Average fuel economy is 6.1L/100km and CO2 emissions are 143g/km. The 1.4 has 71W of power and 128Nm of torque. It is thirstier than the 1.6 with an average consumption of 6.9L/100km and emissions of 164g/km.

Standard safety equipment on the CL and LX models includes anti-lock brakes, two airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, height-adjustable head restraints and automatic hazard light activation following emergency braking.

Side and curtain airbags and stability control and a driver's knee airbag (CL and LX) are part of a $1000 safety pack on all models.

LX models gain cruise control, rear power windows and more. The sporty Zetec versions add a driver's knee airbag and more. -- JAEDENE HUDSON

© 2008 The Age

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