2011 Ford Fiesta Review and Prices

By Chuck Giametta

2011 FORD FIESTA BUYING ADVICE

• The 2010 Ford Fiesta is the best car for you if you want to downsize without downgrading. Think of the 2011 Ford Fiesta as automotive espresso: lots of flavor, a bit of a kick, no filler.

• Distilling everything Ford’s estimable European designers know about building a subcompact car, the 2011 Ford Fiesta promises a game-changing blend of fuel efficiency and driving brio. Offered as a four-door sedan and four-door hatchback, this new-to-the-U.S. car boasts daring styling, a $14,000 price tag, and nearly 40 mpg on the highway. It offers Americans a high-feature automobile born of a culture in which small cars like this are primary transportation for middle-class families.  

• Should you wait for the 2011 Ford Fiesta? If you’re in the market for an inexpensive subcompact such as the Honda Fit or Toyota Yaris, hold off until you test drive this new, entry-level Ford. Fiesta is smaller and less expensive than Ford’s Focus compact. It should enjoy broader dealer and marketing support than any import rival. And no domestic competitor is likely to match its particular appeal.      

2011 FORD FIESTA CHANGES

• Styling: You won’t see anything else like the 2011 Fiesta in a Ford showroom and precious little to rival it on American roads – unless it’s the 2011 Mazda 2. Drawn in the automaker’s overseas styling studios, Fiesta employs a dramatic ensemble of swoops and wedges Ford calls “kinetic” design. In overall length, the Fiesta four-door hatchback is about 6 inches shorter than the Honda Fit four-door hatchback, while the Fiesta sedan is several inches longer. Both Fiesta body styles have 97.9 inches separating the front and rear axles. This measurement, called wheelbase, is the primary determinate of a car’s interior volume. Fiesta’s wheelbase is about a half-inch shorter than the Fit’s. But Fit mimics the layout of a small wagon, emphasizing cargo space with rear seats that fold to floor level. Ford’s decision to offer Fiesta as a traditional hatchback and sedan means skimping on cargo space and rear leg room compared to the benchmark Fit. But by prioritizing design elements like a rakish roofline, Ford shows it’s willing to trade some function for personality. Fiesta shares its basic engineering with the Mazda 2 from Ford’s Japanese design associates. Both the Fiesta and the 2 are currently sold throughout Europe and Asia. The 2011 Mazda 2 will come to the U.S. several months after the Fiesta, but only as a four-door hatchback. Like Fiesta, the Mazda 2 is based on Ford’s global “B” car platform -- “B” referring to their international size category. Matchboxes like the Smart ForTwo occupy the smaller “A” class and compact cars like the Honda Civic would be in the “C” class.  

• Mechanical: The result of a collaboration between Ford of Europe and Mazda’s small-car experts, the 2011 Fiesta aims for a more sophisticated feel than subcompacts designed exclusively for the U.S. It has conventional small-car components: front-wheel drive, beam rear axle, and a 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine preliminarily rated at 118 horsepower. Transmission choices will be a five-speed manual or four-speed automatic. The car isn’t a hot rod, but with a curb weight under 2,500 pounds, it shouldn’t feel sluggish. Acceleration isn’t a priority, anyway; outstanding road manners are. Early reviews cite Fiesta’s precise steering and sporty cornering behavior, and rate highway-speed stability and ride comfort as exceptional for such a light car. Ford may someday offer a sport version of the Fiesta with a turbocharged four-cylinder from its EcoBoost family of engines. It would have well over 118 horsepower – and it would be a little hot rod. One of Ford’s marketing challenges is to convince Americans that a car this small is safe in a collision. Ford would love to advertise that the 2011 Fiesta gets top ratings in government crash tests. So in addition to head-protecting curtain side airbags, expect Fiesta to offer the latest antiskid- and stability-control systems. Ford can also tout the safety benefits of the car’s stout structure, a legitimate boast supported by Fiesta’s rigid feel over bumps.

• Features: The basic 2011 Fiesta design bound for the U.S. has been on sale in Europe, Britain, and Asia since 2008. It’s lauded for high-quality interior materials and techno features like its keyless pushbutton ignition, heated windshield, rear park assist, and power folding mirrors. But overseas buyers are accustomed to paying premium prices for cars in the Fiesta’s size range; a well-equipped German-market Fiesta sells for the U.S. equivalent of about $24,000. For America, speculation is that Ford will need to dial back on some amenities – maybe even on cabin materials -- to meet expectations that small cars should have small prices. Nonetheless, air conditioning, a tilt steering wheel, power steering, and power windows are likely to be standard on even the base Fiesta model. And we suspect Ford will conclude American-market Fiestas need a nice array of entertainment and communications features to gain credibility with young buyers. So USB iPod and Bluetooth phone connectivity and a navigation system are almost certain to be available under the Ford/Microsoft Sync brand. Leather upholstery and heated front seats are also likely options for upper-range models. Fiesta’s rear seatbacks fold down to increase cargo space, but they don’t have the flush-with-the-floor design that helps make the Honda Fit the most functional car in the class.

2011 FORD FIESTA PRICES

• Ford won’t release 2011 Fiesta prices until shortly before the car goes on sale. But expect the entry-level model to start around $13,900 with manual transmission and around $14,800 with automatic. (Prices in this review include the manufacturer’s destination charges; Ford’s fee was $725 for 2010 models.)

• The 2011 Fiesta lineup will include a range of models with increasing levels of equipment. At the top, expect a fully equipped Fiesta – leather, sunroof, Sync, 17-inch alloy wheels, automatic transmission – to be priced around $18,500.

2011 FORD FIESTA FUEL ECONOMY

• Official ratings weren’t available in time for this review, but the 2011 Ford Fiesta will be among the lighter cars in the subcompact class and it won’t have much fuel-slurping horsepower. Ford says the 2011 Fiesta will get better mileage than a Toyota Yaris. That suggests EPA ratings of about 31/38 mpg (city/highway) with manual transmission and 30/37 with automatic.

2011 FORD FIESTA RELEASE DATE

• Look for the 2011 Ford Fiesta in showrooms by early 2010. U.S.-market Fiestas will be assembled at Ford’s plant in Cuautitlan, Mexico. The 2011 Fiesta, by the way, won’t be the first car by that name sold here. Ford imported a tiny, high-mileage two-door hatchback Fiesta for model-years 1977-1980. It was sourced from the automaker’s operations in Germany and Britain, where the Fiesta has been an ongoing member of Ford’s lineup.    

WHA’TS NEXT FOR THE FORD FIESTA

• Having made its debut overseas in 2008, engineering for the 2011 Fiesta will already be about half-way through its life-cycle by the time in hits U.S. showrooms. The car will look fresh to American eyes, but Ford is even today toiling away on the next-generation model, due perhaps for 2013 or 2014.

• To save money, Ford could decide to keep the current-generation Fiesta in play for the U.S. market well past 2014, perhaps giving it a cosmetic facelift and introducing a sport model around the time the new-generation car goes on sale overseas.

• But Ford is moving toward a truly global strategy. That sort of staggered product timeline may not fit with its vision of a U.S. Ford lineup consisting of fully contemporary cars that emphasize reduced weight and increased fuel mileage.   

• Regardless of the timing, making the next-generation Fiesta a genuine global design should create economies of scale that translate to a high-level of engineering, technology, and features even on the most-basic models.

2011 FORD FIESTA COMPETITION

• Honda Fit: Fiesta won’t quite match this roomy little wagon’s cargo utility, but it would do well to equal its blend of driving fun, comfort, and design sophistication. Fit flits around with a sporty feel, and while it won’t burn rubber, acceleration is perfectly adequate, and fuel economy is a pleasing 27/33 mpg with manual transmission, 28/35 with automatic. Fit is priced from around $15,600. Its next major changes will likely come for model year 2013.

• Toyota Yaris: A visual dullard compared to the Fiesta and Fit, but no slacker for value or refinement. Yaris is among the few “B” class cars to offer three body styles. Its four-door hatchback beats out the two-door hatchback for versatility and the four-door sedan for good taste. Any Yaris model is highly refined for this class, though, and prices start a little over $13,000. Fuel economy is 29/36 mpg with manual transmission, 29/35 with automatic. Yaris gets redesigned for model-year 2012.

• Mazda 2: We don’t usually place corporate cousins in direct competition, but if you like Fiesta’s basic package and personality, give the Mazda 2 a look. It’ll have essentially the same chassis as the Fiesta and share the four-door hatchback’s basic body shape. But Mazda will give its version slightly different styling and perhaps distinct interior appointments that may be more to your liking. And for some, the Mazda badge carries more cache than the Ford blue oval. Look for the 2011 Mazda 2 in U.S. showrooms around autumn 2010.