New Ford Fiesta Might Not Come to the US, Report Says
A recent report suggests Ford might keep its new Fiesta hatchback away from the U.S.
According to Carscoops, citing a report from Romanian site 0-100, the new Ford Fiesta may not be heading to the U.S. Ford Fiesta program manager Robert Stiller indicated as much in an interview with 0-100, saying, “The previous model was a global Ford product, and with the new generation, we are targeting only Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. In North America, especially in the U.S., China, and Latin America, the demand for such cars is declining, and we are reacting accordingly.”
The bad news is, if Ford decided to not bring the new Fiesta to North America, it likely means the Fiesta ST won’t come either.
SEE ALSO: All-New Ford Fiesta ST Debuts With Itty Bitty Turbo 3-Cylinder Engine
Compact hatchbacks have been slowly fading away in the North American market, with models like the Mazda2 and Volkswagen Polo reserved for other markets outside of North America. Although various Japanese automakers have offerings such as the Toyota Yaris, Nissan Versa, and Honda Fit, Ford will likely rely on the popular Focus to hold sales.
Recent sales of the Ford Fiesta reached a high in 2013 when the automaker managed to sell 71,073 units in the U.S. Since then, however, sales have been declining and reached 48,807 last year. While some automakers would consider those figures a huge success, Ford sold 168,789 Focus units last year — nearly four times as much as the Fiesta.
Discuss this story on our Ford Fiesta Forum
Jason Siu began his career in automotive journalism in 2003 with Modified Magazine, a property previously held by VerticalScope. As the West Coast Editor, he played a pivotal role while also extending his expertise to Modified Luxury & Exotics and Modified Mustangs. Beyond his editorial work, Jason authored two notable Cartech books. His tenure at AutoGuide.com saw him immersed in the daily news cycle, yet his passion for hands-on evaluation led him to focus on testing and product reviews, offering well-rounded recommendations to AutoGuide readers. Currently, as the Content Director for VerticalScope, Jason spearheads the content strategy for an array of online publications, a role that has him at the helm of ensuring quality and consistency across the board.
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The new Fiesta ST could be very popular. It's a top rated car for driving dynamics. Ford should at least bring the 2-door Fiesta ST to North America. Tiny motors can be cool.
It'd be sad to see the Fiesta leave the US again but Ford has a history of abandoning segments. It's another casualty of Crossovers: subcompact cars, compact cars, large cars, and coupes. It seems like the Subcompact and Compact segments are favoring large and cheap models Nissan and Toyota to better handling options Ford and Mazda.