Ford May Bring Back the Fiesta as an EV in Europe – The Detroit Bureau

On July 7, Ford stopped producing the Fiesta as it proved unprofitable for Ford Motor Co. due to the costs of complying with ever-stricter EU emissions rules. While Ford is transitioning into an all-electric brand in Europe, that doesn’t mean the Fiesta nameplate is dead.

According to an Automotive News report, Martin Sander, general manager, Ford Model e Europe, said “small vehicles like Fiesta are not the heartland of Ford Motor Co.” Sanders cited the lack of scale compared to competitors Stellantis and Volkswagen Group, while the Fiesta’s small size brings with it meager profitability.

What’s coming

That’s why the company isn’t ruling out bringing back the Fiesta as an EV based on a Volkswagen platform. The company has already said it will stick with established names — Ford Explorer and now possibly Fiesta — in its migration to EVs. And, a $2 billion renovation of the automaker’s factory in Cologne, Germany, will allow it to produce electric vehicles with the VW Group’s MEB platform. 

The first VW-based Ford EV, the compact Explorer SUV, is due to go on sale early next year built on Volkswagen’s MEB platform. The vehicle is expected to start at less than €45,000, or $50,080.

Sanders said the company is also considering building a battery-electric version of the Fiesta, using the Volkswagen ID.2 architecture, although nothing has been decided.

And Volkswagen unveiled the ID.2all concept in March, a compact, reasonably priced battery-electric vehicle, selling for less than €25,000, or $27,817.

Not their first dance

This is not the first time the two automakers have worked together. Ford currently builds a version of the Ranger pickup that Volkswagen sells as the Amarok. Additionally, Ford will produce a Transit Custom light commercial van for Volkswagen under the Transport name. In return, Volkswagen builds a passenger version of its Caddy small van for Ford, which it sells as the Ford Tourneo Connect. 

Meanwhile, Ford is developing the second-generation of its electric vehicle architecture that’s expected to arrive in the United States underneath a pickup and seven-seat SUV.

Ford and Volkswagen first announced their collaboration in 2020 on commercial vehicles. At the time, the OEMs were expected to build new EVs for Europe using Volkswagen’s MEB architecture beginning in 2023. The two also jointly invested in Argo AI, but it was shut down in October 2022. 

Notably, the agreement’s aimed at reducing manufacturing cost; there is no cross-equity arrangement.

Given the lack of popularity for subcompact cars in the U.S., the Ford Fiesta’s return to the United States seems unlikely — even as an EV.

The Ford Fiesta in the U.S.

Initially known as the Bobcat, development of the Ford Fiesta began in 1972, under the stewardship of Ford’s Italian design subsidiary Ghia, this specific project assigned to the late Tom Tjaarda, who had worked at Italdesign, Pininfarina and Fiat. His father, John, was the principal designer of the groundbreaking 1936 Lincoln Zephyr. 

The Fiesta was initially offered as a three-door hatchback on a 90-inch wheelbase before being joined by a five-door model. Its 1.6-liter 4-cylinder engine and 4-speed manual produced 63 horsepower. But at a mere 140 inches long and weighing less than 1,700 pounds, this wasn’t a very large car.

The Ford Fiesta arrived in 1976, coming to America two years later and filling a slot in the line-up below the Ford Pinto, which competed against the Chevrolet Vega. The Fiesta was created for Europe, where it competed against BMC’s Mini along with a slew of models from Fiat, Volkswagen, Renault and Peugeot. In the U.S., the Fiesta would compete against the Chevrolet Chevette and Pontiac T1000. It would be sold stateside through 1981, when Ford introduced its homegrown Escort. 

It wouldn’t return to the U.S. until 2009, upon the release of the seventh-generation, lasting until the 2019 model year.

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• Source: https://www.thedetroitbureau.com/2023/07/ford-may-bring-back-the-fiesta-as-an-ev-in-europe/