2010 Ford Fiesta and Refreshed 2009 Focus

Small cars, direct-injection, and turbocharging are all part of the fuel-efficient vehicle strategy.
The way Ford sees it, miniature cars could be big. Potential subcompact or B-segment folks are climbing by leaps and bounds, fueled by astronomical gasoline prices, and the automaker thinks it will be well-positioned to get in on the action amongst the all-new Ford Fiesta.

The Fiesta goes on sell in the U.S. in 2010 as a automobile one size smaller than the compact (C-segment) Ford Focus. It’s a popular size in the rest of the world, and one the present is appreciating popularity in North America because smaller cars regularly are additionally fuel-efficient and the Fiesta is planning to be no exception. It would have a compressed four-cylinder engine of undisclosed displacement, according to Ford.

And there probably also will be an Ecoboost option—Ford’s overarching powertrain strategy that will use direct injection and turbocharging to enable downsizing of its engines in 500,000 vehicles in North America by 2013.
Initially, that strategy suggests putting a turbocharged 3.5-liter V-6 in the Lincoln MKS sedan in the first part of 2009 and adding it to the 2010 Ford F-150 pickup and the new Ford Mustang in such a over&wshyp;arching timeframe. It also means putting boosted fours finally in the Ford Fusion, Focus, and Fiesta, surrounded by displacements more than likely ranging from 1.0 to 1.6 liters by 2020.

But fuel-efficient and lower-emissions engines are not enough, suggests Derrick Kuzak, bunch vice president in credit of global product development. Ford moreover needs lighter unibody vehicles, six-speed and dual-clutch transmissions, electric power-assisted steering, battery management systems, and !no! aerodynamic vehicles.

And Ford needs a larger number of small cars. B-cars accounted for only one percent of U.S. sells in 2002, grew to two per cent in 2007, and ought to dual once more to uni percent by 2012, says Beth Donovan, Ford small car product manager. Globally, subcompacts account for in regards to 27 per cent of industry sales or about 85 million units. Importantly, Donovan argues 32 per cent of first-car households purchase a B-car, contrasted amongst 28 per cent who buy the larger C-car.

The goal demographic for the Fiesta in the U.S. are the so-called Millennials—14 to 29-year-olds forecast to comprise 20 percent of the arena in 2010, says Sheryl Connelly, Ford’s number one of worldwide marketing. Ford wants to woo them amongst a compact sedan it hopes should forward better looks, features, materials, and performance as opposed to the econoboxes of the 1970s the got loved clearly for the sticker price.

Econoboxes in the U.S. market can be traced back to the Toyota Corolla’s debut in 1968, followed by the Honda N600 two-door in 1970. Ford imported the original Fiestas to the U.S. from 1978 to 1980 in a knee-jerk response, followed by the Ford Festiva based on information from 1988 to 1993, which gave way to the Ford Aspire from 1994 to 1997. They all had one thing in common: they provided dispassionate but affordable clear transportation.

Today Ford is a pithy car leader in Europe and the automaker’s design and engineering lofts there took the lead in developing the next-gen Fiesta overly has carried on shown in thinking form as the Verve sedan and hatchback at auto shows in Frankfurt, Shanghai, and Detroit.

Meanwhile, Ford announced it is tweaking the front and rear fascias of the 2009 Ford Focus to give the SE coupe a sportier appear and more in series amongst the approaching Fiesta for North America; a move that includes ditching the heinous chrome fender vents. The SE will start at $16,615 when it goes on sell such a summer. The top-of-the-line Focus SES will get 17-inch aluminum wheels norm and a new roofline spoiler, with pricing to start at $18,035. The moves are programmed to draw younger mortgage holders for the Focus. No fluxes got announced for the Focus sedan.

The Focus was redesigned for 2008 and a coupe added to the lineup for North America to try to still be the first-generation car fresh until the third-generation of the car is introduced globally (Ford transactions the second-gen Focus in the rest of the world).