I think the  two reviews below should appeal to FF fans and new members. As a long time Top Gear fan I’m partial to their humorous take on car reviews but also appreciate the factual nature of the Consumer Reports video.

Let us know what you think after the break.

Top Gear Ford Fiesta Review:

Consumer Reports Ford Fiesta Review:

While just 60 percent of the parts on the U.S.-spec Fiesta are common with the European version, most of the European versions visual design elements remain. The front the grille has been revised to include the three-bar design (at least on the sedan), and the fog lights have been replaced by LED light strips surrounded by chrome.

The interior design is relatively the same as well, although it’s been tweaked to conform with U.S. crash standards and features soft touch materials, a four-inch LCD display, and available SYNC, auto climate control, leather seats, moon roof and more. The sole engine available for the U.S. spec Fiesta is the 1.6-liter four-cylinder putting out 119 horsepower and 109 lb-ft torque. Ford projects a 40 mpg highway rating with either the 5-speed manual or new 6-speed PowerShift electronic dual clutch automatic transmissions.

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Offical Ford press release is located below.

PRESS RELEASE

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 2, 2009 – Ford’s hot-selling new Ford Fiesta will deliver more than just great looks and top fuel economy of any vehicle in its segment when it goes on sale in North America next year. The 2011 Fiesta – available in four- and five-door body styles – also will set a new small car benchmark for safety, connectivity and powertrain technology.

In fact, Fiesta will offer North American buyers a stylish new choice of 15 class-exclusive technologies and projected highway fuel economy of 40 mpg, besting the Honda Fit, Nissan Versa and Toyota Yaris and Corolla.

“Customers are savvy. They want expressive cars that deliver not just great fuel economy but also high quality, new technologies and a fun driving experience,” said Mark Fields, Ford president of The Americas. “We plan to answer the call with Fiesta; an all-new vehicle in North America we hope will set a new standard for small cars.”

Fiesta is the next milestone under the ONE Ford plan to design and develop vehicles that meet the differing needs, wants and expectations of customers around the world. More than 500,000 Fiestas have already sold to customers in Europe and Asia.

When developing the new Fiesta, Ford conducted extensive global customer research. Findings clearly indicated the need for style topped the list of customer desires everywhere in the world. In Europe, across North America and in the Asia Pacific region, customers are looking for a distinctively designed small car that offers world-class quality, convenience, comfort and connectivity.

“Fiesta was developed with customers, not just for them,” said Derrick Kuzak, group vice president for global product development. “Fuel economy, spirited performance and efficient use of space are universal desires, across global markets – and Fiesta delivers.”

The anticipated new Ford Fiesta arrives in North America with strong consumer awareness, thanks to the Fiesta Movement program. With 100 social media mavens chronicling their experiences of driving European market Fiestas on American roads, Fiesta has generated more than 675,000 Flickr views and more than 5.5 million YouTube video views.

Kinetics and aesthetics
Kinetic design imparts a sense of movement – even while standing still – harmonizing character elements to reflect global Ford identity, enabling Fiesta to project its own air of confidence, style and individuality. Fiesta targets a youthful “design progressive” mind-set, a consumer group that values style and diversity as worthy assets.

“These influential, prospective Fiesta customers relate to the design philosophy of ‘energy in motion’ because it reflects their personal outlook and lifestyle,” said Kevin George, Fiesta design manager.

Up front, Fiesta sports the global Ford face, centering the Blue Oval badge on the grille over the signature inverted trapezoid lower grille opening. These subtle cues engender familiarity across the portfolio, providing aesthetic linkage between the distinctive new Taurus, the fuel-efficient midsize Fusion and the bold Fiesta.

Adding eyes to the Fiesta face are sweeping, elongated headlamps that frame and connect the hood to muscular, sculpted front fenders. Available in sporty five-door hatchback or four-door sedan body styles, Fiesta provides ample space for occupants and their gear.

At the rear of the car, many design elements merge, including the chamfered rear liftgate glass, the low roofline sweeping into a spoiler and dramatic taillamps with honeycomb detailing mounted high in the five-door’s corners. Muscular rear quarter panels, wrapped tightly, draw the eye to the wheels and Fiesta’s confident stance.

The Fiesta design is further enhanced with a choice of nine vivid new colors. From Bright Magenta through Lime Squeeze to Blue Flame, Fiesta’s broad color palette – more available colors than any other segment competitors – instills vibrant individuality.

Inside Fiesta
Fiesta is as dramatic on the inside as it is on the outside. Boldly sculpted surfaces, contrasting colors and comfortable, supportive materials make the interior as individual as the driver. The instrument panel centerstack – focal point of the new Fiesta interior – was designed to feel as useful and familiar as the keypad on a mobile phone.

The North American Fiesta features first-row bucket seats with a 60/40 split second-row seat. Cloth or leather seating surfaces vary by trim level offering comfort, style and individuality. High series Fiestas also offer leather with sporty contrast accent color piping. Soft, sculptured surfaces and the centerstack layout provide the Fiesta with a sense of harmony. Intuitive switchgear placement, comfort zone seating and available ambient lighting allow a driver to maximize the mood with seven complementary colors – switchable among three levels of intensity – for interior accent lighting.

And Fiesta keeps it green; 25 percent of volume series SE seat fabric inserts are comprised of recycled content.

Fun, with fuel efficiency
Fiesta’s flowing sculpted hood covers a 1.6-liter DOHC I-4 engine with an estimated 119 horsepower and 109 ft.-lbs. of torque. Spirited performance and fuel-efficient economy are signature attributes with the Fiesta expected to deliver best-in-class fuel economy at 40 mpg.

Fiesta’s advanced 1.6-liter engine features Twin Independent Variable Camshaft Timing (Ti-VCT) allowing the engine to be downsized for fuel economy while continuously optimizing camshaft phasing for throttle response, performance and flexibility.

Big results from a small package are possible with several new technologies in this new global engine, including an advanced new front end accessory drive (FEAD) belt with stretchy dynamics to improve the engine’s thermal dynamics. The elasticity in this new drive belt eliminates the need for a belt tensioner and contributes to overall fuel economy.

Fiesta features a standard five-speed manual transaxle with gear ratios selected to offer spirited off-the-line performance and exceptional fuel economy for drivers who desire three pedals and a stick shift to maximize driving experience.

Specially tuned front struts, bushings, dampers, stabilizer bars and a rear twist-beam axle keep Fiesta sure-footed and firmly planted. Sporty, European driving dynamics prevail.

Automatically game-changing
An available all-new North American industry-exclusive PowerShift six-speed automatic transmission combines the responsive performance and fuel economy of a manual transmission with the convenience of a traditional automatic in one advanced, dual dry-clutch package.

“Fuel economy leaders have traditionally been manual shift models,” said Pierro Aversa, team leader for transmissions. “Fiesta changes the game by offering an advanced PowerShift six-speed automatic that delivers maximum fuel economy.”

Twin internal clutches keep the PowerShift in constant mesh, always optimizing for maximum responsiveness or fuel efficiency, depending on input received from the driver’s foot on the accelerator pedal.

This “dry” transmission operates with sealed internal lubrication, reducing internal friction and adding to Fiesta fuel economy. The lack of pumps and hoses reduces under-hood complexity, saves weight and also contributes to fuel efficiency.

PowerShift has been proven in Ford’s European market and will redefine North American small car segment expectations for responsive shifting and fuel efficiency.

Power steering conserves fuel
For confidence-inspiring on-road dynamics, Fiesta features Electric Power Assist Steering (EPAS) which reduces complexity while saving weight and fuel. This advanced system is speed-sensitive – providing optimized assist based on speed, cornering forces and acceleration or deceleration.

Ford is aggressively moving to EPAS across its product lineup. The system already is available in several Ford, Lincoln and Mercury nameplates, and by 2013 nearly 90 percent of Ford’s lineup will offer this fuel saving technology.

EPAS also includes Pull-Drift Compensation to help Fiesta track true regardless of road crown or side wind conditions. In addition, active nibble control helps detect and compensate for tire balance irregularity. Both features – enabled by EPAS – are class-exclusives.

Strength, safety, quality and quiet
More than 50 percent of Fiesta’s welded body structure is made from high-strength steel, with ultra-strong boron steel used in several critical areas. This rigid body shell contributes to Fiesta’s confident road-holding, best-in-class occupant safety and quiet composure.

Fiesta safety is enhanced by an array of features including dual-stage first-row air bags, a class-exclusive driver’s knee air bag, side air bags and side curtain air bags. AdvanceTrac® with ESC (Electronic Stability Control) is standard on Fiesta, along with seat belt pretensioners, rear door child safety locks and a Safety Canopy® system with rollover sensors.

Tested and proven on virtually every continent where you can drive a car, Fiesta arrives with proven quality and customer readiness.

“For North America, the global Fiesta was tweaked, not re-designed or re-developed.” said Steve Pintar, chief engineer. “We built on the success of the European Fiesta and are really proud of how little has changed.”

Fiesta NVH (noise, vibration and harshness) control is taken to a new level of quiet for this segment, helped in part by a specially laminated, class-exclusive windshield that was chosen to help absorb and contain noise. Engine noise is subdued by a hood blanket, with enhanced door seals keeping wind noise minimized.

Special padding behind the instrument panel and foam baffles mounted inside the pillars keeps Fiesta quiet. Even the headliner material was specified for its sound-deadening qualities.

Much of Fiesta’s sound-absorbent materials are comprised of recycled content, helping to conserve resources as it preserves peace and quiet. In addition, Fiesta aerodynamics contributes to both NVH control and fuel efficiency.

Features and functionality
From class-exclusive automatic climate control to a standard aux input, Fiesta offers customers a number of standard and available features that increase convenience and add connectivity. Among them is Ford SYNC®, integrating a driver’s mobile phone with Fiesta’s onboard, voice- activated communications and entertainment system.

Fiesta also offers keyless entry and push button start, a feature unique within the segment. Drivers of all sizes can adjust the tilt-and-telescoping steering wheel to suit their individual preferences. Reflecting Fiesta’s versatility and adaptability, adjustable cup holders can accommodate Red Bull cans and Big Gulps along with every container size in between.

Fiesta also features Ford’s EasyFuel® Capless Fuel-Filler System, a North American industry- exclusive, as standard equipment.

Fiesta sales success
Fiesta is continuing its sales momentum as Europe’s No. 2-selling car and Ford of Europe’s top-selling vehicle, helping increase Ford’s share in Europe’s main 19 markets. More than 500,000 Fiestas have been sold since the car was launched last autumn. In Europe, the Fiesta name has long been synonymous with outstanding drive quality, design and value. It’s winning enthusiastic media reviews in Asia. Now, the all-new Fiesta offers North American consumers a stylish, fuel-efficient alternative.

The Fiesta is eligible to enter national rally championships, as well as the IRC and S2000 World Cup in 2010, and will also form the basis of Ford’s WRC effort in 2011. It will debut as a course car at next week’s Rally of Scotland, the final round of this year’s IRC.
The new Fiesta S2000-spec rally car will make its public debut this weekend when it appears as course car on the final round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC) in Scotland.

“This is the first global rally car for Ford and M-Sport,” says M-Sport Managing Director Malcolm Wilson. “I really believe that we have produced a fantastic rally car and this launch is a big step to seeing it out competing in rallies. It’s the first time in five years that we have been able to offer a Ford rally car that can challenge for overall victory in national championships across the world.”

The new car will make its competitive debut in 2010 and is eligible for S2000 and IRC regulations, but is likely to form the basis for Ford’s next full-house WRC car when new rules come into effect in 2011 or 2012.

The 280bhp, 192lb ft four-wheel drive Fiesta S2000 has gone from the drawing board to the rally stage in just nine months.

“It’s a fantastic feeling to see the car actually launched to the world after all the hard work and testing behind closed doors,” says M-Sport Technical Director Christian Loriaux. “Everyone at M-Sport has had to pull together in order to get the Fiesta S2000 finished in such a short period of time and it has been a great team effort to get to this point so quickly.

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The new Fiesta, the first in a wave of stylish vehicles being brought to world-wide markets under the ONE Ford plan, went on sale in Germany in October 2008. It 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 through September of this year, with 430,000 sales in Europe and 40,000 in the Asia Pacific region. Continued strong demand for Fiesta through October has pushed the total number beyond 500,000.

“Customers around the world are recognizing the new Fiesta delivers on the global Ford DNA – eye-catching design, innovation, outstanding driving dynamics and great value,” said Jim Farley, group vice president of global marketing and Canada, Mexico and South America.

The new Fiesta will make its North American debut when it is revealed at the Los Angeles Auto Show in December. Set to arrive in North American dealer showrooms next summer, the Fiesta already can claim more than 50,000 potential U.S. customers thanks to the Fiesta Movement, a social media initiative in which 100 young trendsetters are test driving and living with a European-spec Ford Fiesta for six months.

The reveal will cap months of publicity by Ford to make consumers aware of the small car’s capability and fuel-economy prowess.

Based on the popular European model, the Fiesta will go on sale in the U.S. market in early 2010 in hatchback and sedan forms.

The big question is what colors will be offered in the US.  Europe gets to pick from 13 available colors.

From “Frozen White” to “Squeeze”.

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The all-new Fiesta R2 is set to make its WRC debut as the Fiesta SportTrophy International arrives at the Rally de España for its exciting penultimate round. Five all-new Fiesta R2s are entered in the event with the remaining four competitors taking part in the Fiesta ST. Championship leader Patrick Anglade is locked in a battle with FST UK and Ireland champion Craig Breen for the title so the result of this event could go a long way to deciding the destination of the 2009 FSTi crown. The debut of the new car brings added excitement to the proceedings.

Breen took victory at Rally Finland in August closing the gap on series leader Anglade to 40 points. But, with the option to drop two scores, the fight for the championship is sure to go right to the wire at the final round, Wales Rally GB.

Rally de España sees the return of Lambros Athanassoulas to the series after a three-year absence, while Belgium’s Anthony Martin also makes his 2009 FSTi debut. Team Abu Dhabi driver Bader Al Jabri is currently lying third in the championship, but only holds a narrow lead over his team mates Majed Al Shamsi and Ahmed Al Mansoori. Castrol Ford Team Türkiye drivers Emre Yurdakul and Burcu Çetinkaya complete the field. Both Turks will be competing in the new R2.

Based around the Costa Daurada town of Salou, Rally de España is the first and only Tarmac round of the FSTi this year providing a new and unique challenge for the competitors. The sweeping roads of the Tarragona region are fast and flowing but the surface can quickly become slippery as drivers cut across the open corners and drag stones and dirt onto the route.

Anglade (21) was beaten by Breen in Finland, but did enough to retain a large advantage over the Irishman in the table. Returning to his favoured surface he will be aiming to take another victory to put him in the box seat heading in to the final round of the championship in October. He will link up with new co-driver Peter Loth for the remaining two events of the season. Anglade will be driving the Fiesta ST at this event hoping that the proven set-up and reliability of the car will aide his title challenge.

Breen (19) and co-driver Gareth Roberts (21) now have two FSTi victories under their belts after an impressive win in Finland. The duo are riding high after clinching both the FST UK and FST Ireland titles in the last month and are now gunning for a hat trick of wins. Breen has been further boosted by a switch to the Fiesta R2 for this event which is his prize for winning the FST Ireland title.

Al Jabri (24) has been impressively consistent so far this season and is still in a position to exert pressure on the championship leaders if he can produce the kind of pace that gave him second place in both Sardinia and Poland. But he and co-driver Alan Harryman will also have one eye on their Team Abu Dhabi team mates who are just five points behind in the standings.

Al Shamsi (29) and co-driver Steve McAuley are locked in a battle with Al Mansoori, but the more experienced Al Shamsi will be aiming to move ahead of his countryman and stamp his mark on the championship. Meanwhile Al Mansoori (22) and co-driver Killian Duffy (26) thrived in the high-speed conditions in Finland and will be hoping to reproduce that form on the roads of the Tarragona region.

Burcu Çetinkaya (28) and co-driver Çiçek Güney (27) have been performing well in their home championship and will be hoping to translate that form to the world stage. Her Castrol Ford Team Türkiye team mate Emre Yurdakul (27) produced a strong performance in Finland and will be aiming to build on that in the new Fiesta R2.

Athanassoulas, an FSTi winner in Germany in 2006, has already made a big impression on the WRC this season, taking a fantastic eighth place overall at his home event, Acropolis Rally of Greece in June with co-driver Nikos Zakheos (29) winning the GpN class and P-WRC in a Skoda Fabia. He will also be driving the Fiesta R2

Meanwhile Anthony Martin (25) from Belgium was the first competitor to rally the Fiesta R2 at Oomlop van Vlaanderen earlier this month setting excellent times on the car’s first competitive outing. He and co-driver Eric Bourget (25) will be looking to put that experience to good use on the Spanish Tarmac stages.

FSTi leader Patrick Anglade said:
“We had the chance to test the Fiesta ST at least once on asphalt at the Eifel Rally in July. We didn’t have the best conditions for the test as it was raining, but we expect that there might be rain in Spain too. I have been preparing intensively and making rally sport the centre of my life as the end of the championship gets closer. We will try to give our best and stay with our tried and tested tactics. We will not let the other cars drive us crazy. Of course we know that it is difficult to win against these cars but even they have to finish the rally first and then we’ll see the results.”

Source: Rallybuzz.com

The Fiesta (at least the European Version tested) had optional features like automatic rain sensing wipers, leather interior, smart key and navigation system that you would normally find in luxury cars not affordable hatchbacks.

Read the article after the break.

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Proponents of the subcompact car will tell you that its low purchase price and handy dimensions deliver a combination that can’t be matched for efficiency and practicality. Its detractors turn up their noses because they don’t want to drive a slow, cramped tin box.

Taking up the ground between these camps are two modern examples of the subcompact car that demonstrate that driving enjoyment and frugality don’t have to be mutually exclusive: the 2009 Honda Fit and 2009 Ford Fiesta. The former is one of the best small cars you can buy. So is the latter, with one crucial caveat for those of us here in the land of baseball and apple pie — you can’t yet buy one here.

A New Challenger Faces the Best of the Establishment
The 2009 Ford Fiesta serves as Ford’s entry in the so-called B-segment, positioned just below the Focus in terms of size and price. Though a sales darling in Europe, the Fiesta has been absent in the subcompact-averse U.S. market. Then the world went to hell, and Ford reconsidered.

Only the Blue Oval knows the gory details of how the Fiesta will be equipped when it’s finally sold Stateside as a 2011 model. And it’s not talking.

As such, we’ve take some liberties in this comparison test. The Squeeze Lime green Fiesta you see here is a Euro-spec four-door hatchback in range-topping Titanium trim, equipped with leather upholstery, keyless entry, rain-sensing wipers and automatic climate control. There’s no guarantee that you’ll be able to buy a Fiesta outfitted exactly like this one when the model finally appears on the floor at dealerships in the U.S. Also, its $19,358 as-tested price tag is an estimate we conjured up based on the Fiesta’s positioning overseas.

The 2009 Ford Fiesta has been developed as a true world car, so differences in specification across global markets are minimized in an effort to reduce development costs and time-to-market. Although details are thin on the ground, we do know that the 2011 Ford Fiesta for the U.S. will be a tweaked version of today’s Fiesta and will be powered by a 1.6-liter engine similar to the one in our Kermit green car.

From the size of its shadow to its low-impact $18,820 blow to the wallet, the 2009 Honda Fit matches up very well to the Fiesta. Although our Fit is equipped with no options per se, Honda crafts its model lineup such that options are bundled together and offered as trim levels. Hence the navigation system and upsized 16-inch wheels found on our top-of-the-line Fit Sport.

If you’re a regular visitor to Inside Line, you’ll recognize the blazing metallic orange 2009 Honda Fit Sport as a resident of our long-term test fleet. Don’t cry foul over the 11,000 miles on our Fit’s clock, as neither of these cars is exactly brand-spanking new. The Fiesta in this test is a refugee from Ford’s Fiesta Movement program and its odometer reads more than 17,000 miles.

Delivering on the Small-Car Promise
Although the handling numbers we extracted from these cars don’t reveal a huge chasm in performance between them, there’s an asterisk — the Fiesta’s stability control can’t be disengaged, and this puts an artificial cap on its ultimate capabilities. As such, the Fiesta’s modest 0.81g grip on our skid pad and 65.5-mph slalom speed could otherwise have been grippier and quicker yet. (Dear Ford: Include a button to switch off ESP for the U.S.-spec Fiesta.)

Still, the 2,443-pound Fiesta is the more rewarding drive here. Its steering is a benchmark in this class, from the weighting of its effort to the immediate and linear response of the chassis. Paired with firm-yet-compliant suspenders, the Fiesta feels at once substantial and lithe. You’re reminded of a more expensive car in the way this car takes to the road.

Keep in mind our 2009 Ford Fiesta tester is on summer tires, which do more than simply increase outright grip at the expense of tire life; they also contribute to the Fiesta’s superior steering feel and short braking distances (118 feet from 60 mph). (Dear Ford: The Fiesta’s steering and handling are key factors underpinning its appeal. Don’t neuter the U.S.-spec car’s spunkiness by specifying crappy tires or stuffing marshmallows in its suspension.)

The 2,511-pound 2009 Honda Fit is a similarly nimble little thing. Its steering is quick around center and the little bugger can even be coaxed into a neutral cornering stance if you get rowdy and abrupt with it when the stability control has been switched off. Threading our slalom cones at 64.4 mph and generating 0.82g on our skid pad, the Fit makes the most of its 185/55R16 all-season tires. Its braking performance is mediocre, consuming 138 feet to reach a standstill from 60 mph.

Performance numbers don’t tell you much about the way these cars drive in day-to-day use, though. The Fit’s comically low-effort shift linkage could have come straight out of an arcade, and its steering needs constant subtle corrections to keep the car traveling in a straight line. It’s nervous where the Fiesta is confident. The bottom line is that the Fiesta has moved the needle of small-car dynamics and in doing so has made the Fit feel more toylike by comparison.

Not Terribly Quick by the Clock
Similarly, the Fiesta’s acceleration also suffers from its non-defeatable traction control. It reached 60 mph in 9.4 seconds (9.1 seconds with 1 foot of rollout like on a drag strip) and the quarter-mile in 16.9 at 82.1 mph in our testing, results which aren’t far off the Honda’s sprints of 9.5 seconds (9.4 seconds with rollout) and 16.9 seconds at 81.1 mph. This performance by the 2009 Honda Fit is a few tenths off the pace we measured when it was new, suggesting that perhaps the launch surface at our testing facility had more bite back then.

Nobody’s going to be launching these things drag-strip-style, so the dead-heat acceleration numbers are a bit misleading. In the real world of stop-and-go traffic and squirting around trucks on the freeway, the 2009 Ford Fiesta is much more eager than the Honda Fit. Low-end torque is surprisingly ample in the Fiesta’s 1.6-liter mill, an engine of uncanny smoothness with a deliciously fruity intake note. Keeping up in the Fit isn’t as rewarding, whether it’s in terms of these abstractions or actual velocity.

Our Fiesta tester’s 1.6-liter four produces 118 horsepower and 112 pound-feet of torque on the U.S. equivalent of about 90-octane fuel. (Dear Ford: Honda found 117 hp and 106 lb-ft from its 1.5-liter engine on 87 octane. Find a way to retain the sauce’s spice on 87-octane fuel.)

The Fiesta’s five-speed manual shifts somewhat more like a real gearbox than the Fit’s, though the linkage is a bit more vague and there’s a shorter-ratio 5th gear that results in more revs at freeway speeds than U.S. consumers will be accustomed to. A slightly taller gear would also deliver better fuel economy during those long trips for which the sophisticated Fiesta is well-suited.

In Practice
If the 2009 Ford Fiesta has the Fit beat in terms of dynamics, the tables turn when it comes to utility. The Honda Fit is simply a small miracle of packaging. This is a small car that doesn’t fall victim to the usual small-car compromises. Its unusually large door apertures and low floor ease ingress, practically presenting the driver seat to your bum.

Once you’re inside, the Fit’s breezier cabin has noticeably more elbow room and slightly better sight lines than in the high-waisted Fiesta. Both headroom and legroom are noticeably more crowded in the Fiesta’s backseat than in the Fit.

The cargo area of the 2009 Honda Fit also edges the Fiesta. When the backseat is up, there’s little difference in volume between the two cars, but the Fit flat-out embarrasses the Fiesta when the seat is stowed. Honda’s articulating backseat transforms the space behind the front seats into a flat, low loading floor, while the Fiesta’s thick rear seatbacks simply flop forward, forming a cargo volume shaped more like a pinched wedge.

Cabin material quality is generally better in the Ford and the layout presents more gracefully than the Fit’s polarizing design aesthetic. Save for the Fiesta center stack’s chintzy silver plastic, you’re surrounded mostly by textured black surfaces that appear richer than those in the Honda.

However, the Honda’s secondary controls — window switches, wiper interface, center stack controls — are more consistently located right where you expect them and operate more intuitively. (Dear Ford: Rethink the Fiesta’s secondary controls for the U.S market.)

A New Phenomenon
In a way, this comparison is a matter of horses for courses, as each car has distinct strengths that will appeal to different buyers — the Fit for its practicality and the Fiesta for its superior driving experience.

The 2009 Ford Fiesta emerges victorious because it sweats the small stuff. Steering feel isn’t something its buyer would expect, yet the Fiesta delivers. Same goes for its soothing engine note. Or the way the steering wheel feels custom-made for your hands, or the mechanical sound of the door latch. In the Fiesta, Ford has elevated the subcompact concept to something that’s a bit more special than even the very accomplished 2009 Honda Fit.

True, factoring in the pivotal issues of equipment and cost here has involved some hocus-pocus. Yet the Fiesta’s lead in our scoring is such that Ford will have to comprehensively botch things up on the value front for the 2011 Ford Fiesta to fail in the U.S. If Ford could rejigger the Fiesta’s backseat to perform the shenanigans of the one in the Fit, it would really be onto something. (Dear Ford…)

There are so many things we could cover at the Frankfurt Auto show but we have so little time. We decided to concentrate our coverage on new Ford products and green or greener vehicles from other manufacturers.

The new 2012 Ford Grand C-Max seven-seat mini-MPV and smaller five seat C-Max debuted with the intriguing styling of the Iosis Max concept from last year’s Geneva show.  Ford confirmed that the 7 seat version of the Grand C-Max will be headed to the U.S. late in 2011.  Enjoy pics of the C-Max and other Frankfurt show cars in the galleries below or the forum thread.

Ferrari 458

14 Photos

MB SLS AMG

10 Photos

Ford Grand CMazx

14 Photos

911 GT3 RS

13 Photos

MB F Cell

20 Photos

BMW Hybrid 7

6 Photos

Citroen Revolte

9 Photos

Peugeot RCZ

10 Photos

Seat IBZ

10 Photos

VW Polo Bluemotion

3 Photos

VW Golf R

2 Photos

Toyota Auris Hybrid

6 Photos

Ladies of Frankfurt

15 Photos

 

Auto 123.com’s Justin Pritchard reviewed the 2009 Ford Fiesta for our Canadian friends north of the border.

Like most of the reviews for the new Fiesta Auto123 had good things to say about the Fiesta’s excellent handling, quality interior materials and upscale features like bluetooth and available push button start system.

While we don’t know the exact  Fiesta configuration that will make its way the North America, Ford contends that our version will be 90% identical to the European version. Time will tell.

Source Auto123.com.

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2011 Ford Fiesta

June 2, 2008

Ford Motor Co., in a struggle to regain profitability, will build its new Fiesta subcompact at a factory near Mexico City for sale in the US.

It is a blow to Detroit.

But for Mexico, Friday’s announcement – which has been heralded as the largest manufacturing investment in the country’s history – is a decisive feat.

President Felipe Calderón called the $3 billion deal a “turning point.”

While the US automaking industry sags – undergoing massive restructuring and downsizing – Mexico’s production has expanded, especially for small, low-cost vehicles. Last year, Mexico produced a record number – over 2 million – and analysts forecast that by the year 2015 production could at least double.

A US recession is bound to affect the Mexican car industry, where the majority rolled out head north for export. But amid high gas prices that are fueling the market for smaller cars, Mexico could position itself as a center for fuel-efficient vehicles – a pivotal development after years of shedding manufacturing jobs to China and beyond.

“Asia is where all the growth is. But now all of a sudden Mexico is looking pretty good again,” says Greg Gardner, an analyst at the consulting firm Oliver Wyman in Troy, Michigan. While China offers automakers lower wages than Mexico, he says that the gap is shrinking. Plus, he adds, Mexico is closer to the US and has experience in automaking. “In the past two years, Mexico has really rebounded.”

The launching of the Fiesta subcompact, to be available for export to the US in 2010, is part of Ford’s effort to tap a new market, after truck sales have slowed. Ford intends to transform its plant near Mexico City, in Cuautitlan, to replace pickup truck production with the fuel-efficient Fiesta. It will also revamp two other plants in the country.

Ford announced last week it would not meet its goal of being profitable by 2009, dealing a setback to the United Auto Workers union, which had renegotiated contracts in an effort to save jobs in Detroit. Buyouts are expected.