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Ford's B-segment car celebrates 35th anniversary and 15 million-unit production

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This year marks the 35th birthday of Ford's Fiesta, the small car that began life in 1976 as a Europe-only model, but is now sold all around the world.

And 2011 represents another milestone for the Fiesta, notching up 15 million units built since its introduction all those years ago. The current sixth-generation model has sold a million units alone, in slightly more than two years on sale.

“The Fiesta is a special car that has a special place in the hearts of European customers and car lovers around the world,” said Roelant de Waard, vice president, Marketing, Sales and Service, Ford of Europe. “It’s a testament to the original Fiesta from 1976 and the engineers who have developed and improved the car through more than three decades that the Fiesta remains one of the world’s most popular cars.

“Times and technologies have changed, but as long as the Fiesta continues to deliver the style, economy and performance elements that have been present from the very beginning, it will remain an enduring success.”

Ford Australia introduced the Fiesta to Australia fairly late in life, with the angular WP (fifth-generation) model entering the market in 2004. Elsewhere the B-segment car (or light segment car in VFACTS terminology) had been commonplace since the very beginning.

Developed in response to the oil crisis of the early 1970s, the Fiesta reached European markets in 1976, as a smaller alternative to the well-regarded but aging Mk II Escort. At the time, the Fiesta didn't make it to Australia, where the Escort was already considered small enough. It wasn't until the KF Laser of the early 1990s (based on the Mazda 323 platform), that Ford Australia began to cast around for a smaller car to slot into the range at a lower price point.

Since the floating of the Australian dollar by the Hawke government, the landed cost of a European import was excessive, especially in a price-sensitive segment such as light cars. As a consequence, Ford chose to import the Festiva from South Korea, where it was built by Kia from Mazda components. Often forgotten these days, the Festiva was one of Ford's better-selling cars at the time. It was also the top-selling car in its segment in 1999 and, with sales of 17,197 for the year, it accounted for over 38 per cent of the segment — and was nearly 10,000 units ahead of its closest rival, the Suzuki Swift-based Holden Barina.

Stung by Ford's success with its own car, Kia refused Ford permission to sell the company's new for 2000 Rio model, wearing Ford badges. That left the Blue Oval no option other than looking to Europe for a successor to the Festiva. The tiny Ka introduced in the Festiva's stead was never a big seller, lacking four doors and an automatic transmission.

After three years of dismal sales in the light-car segment, Ford brought in the WP Fiesta, a car that was well received for its dynamic prowess, although sales got off to a slow start — 3930 units in the 10 months on sale during 2004. For its first full year on sale (2005), the Fiesta improved, selling 5203 units. In contrast, the current-generation Fiesta sold more than double that number last year — 10,979 cars — and is on track this year for a better sales performance again, already 9.4 per cent ahead of last year's figure to date.

The current Fiesta is a very different car from its first-generation forebear and illustrates Ford's prevailing global view that one third of all passenger car sales will be B or C-segment cars by 2030. Where the Fiesta was a cheap econocar back in 1976, the latest model is well specified and safe to drive — and it has to be, to trap down-sizing buyers flogging off their large, mid-sized and even small cars for something that does everything required, but isn't humiliating to drive.

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