Ford Fiesta to be launched on July 14

Ford will launch the all new Fiesta on 14^th July 2011 in New Delhi. The variants and prices will be announced on that day. The much-anticipated launch in the mid-size sedans segment will reveal the pricing strategy that Ford will take to counter the big sales momentum the new Hyundai Verna has built in the past two months.

The fluidic Verna is already the segment leader, with 4,102 units sold in June. It will be interesting to see whether Ford will price the Fiesta as aggressively and load it with features as Hyundai did with the Verna. We expect Ford to price the Fiesta in the Rs. 8 to Rs 11 lakh price range, but the attractiveness of the price proposition will only be known once the details are known on July 14.

Ford “unveiled” the Fiesta to the media couple of months back, without revealing its price. The new Fiesta will come in both petrol and diesel engines. The petrol Fiesta is powered by 1.5 litre TiVCT engine that makes 109 bhp of max power and 140 Nm of torque and mated to 5-speed manual transmission. The diesel Fiesta is powered by a 1.5 litre motor that makes 89.9 bhp of max power and 204 Nm of max torque. The engines are mated to 5-speed manual transmission and the cruise control works only when the car runs in 5^th gear.

On our first drive, the new Fiesta’s electric power steering weighs nicely at speed, the suspension felt well sorted and the ground clearance was felt adequate. The diesel Fiesta had strong bit of torque after 2,000 rpm while below that, slight turbo-lag was felt. As per ARAI ratings, the mileage of petrol version is 17 kmpl while that of diesel version is 23.5 kmpl.

On our first drive, the petrol Fiesta returned 11 km/litre while the diesel Fiesta returned 15.8 kmpl making the diesel, the more frugal car.

In terms of looks, and this has indeed become an important feature buyers are looking for in this segment, the kinetic design theme on the new Fiesta makes it look dynamic and way better than the Fiesta Classic, its predecessor. The fox-eyed headlamps, large wheel fenders, raising waistline gives it a dynamic road presence. However, the rear portion of the car could not hide its bulk despite having wrap-around tail lamps.

The interiors of the new Fiesta has a mobile-inspired central console with USB port, Aux-in port, voice-activated control (through which one can control the car’s air-conditioning system) and electronic cruise control system is also available. The steering has tilt adjust provision and audio controls mounted on its spokes. The dashboard’s centre has 4-inch LCD screen that displays audio settings and phone functions. The phone control layouts are laid out as in a cell phone keypad.

The new Ford Fiesta will take on the newly launched Hyundai Fluidic Verna and others including the Volkswagen Vento, Honda City, Maruti SX4 and Fiat Linea. The buyer response will all depend on the pricing Ford adopts for the Fiesta.