A year after its debut, over half a million customers have purchased the latest Fiesta, marking an important milestone as Ford prepares to bring the fuel-efficient, global car to the US and other key Asian Pacific markets next year.
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The new Fiesta went on sale in Germany in October 2008 and quickly became the second best selling car for all markets in Europe and the leader in the European small car segment.
The new Fiesta has also been a key driver behind Ford of Europe’s market share gains, which are up 0.5 percentage points this year through September to 9.2 percent, the highest since 1999.
After its European introduction, the Fiesta was launched in South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and China. Global retail sales of the car reached 470,000 units to the end of September of this year, with 430,000 sales in Europe and 40,000 in the Asia Pacific region.
Continued strong demand for Fiesta in October pushed the total number beyond 500,000.
The Fiesta will make its North American debut at the Los Angeles auto show in December and arrives in North American dealer showrooms next summer.
Customers so far have been drawn to higher end models of the Fiesta, with over 40% of European buyers choosing the Titanium and Ghia trim levels.
Plants in Cologne, Germany and Valencia in Spain produce three- and five-door hatchback versions while the Changan Ford Mazda Automobile Company JV in Nanjing, China produces the five-door hatch and four-door sedan versions. The AutoAlliance Thailand facility will start to build five- and four-door versions in the second quarter of next year and supply Asia markets which currently get cars from Germany.
Ford’s plant in Cuautitlan, Mexico, will build five-door hatchback and sedan versions for North America.
Within five years, Ford expects to build about 1m vehicles worldwide annually off of the new global B-car platform, basis of the Fiesta.
The model line has sold over 12m since launch in 1976. First generation models imported from Germany were sold in the US.
