There has already been speculation about it, now it’s official. After 47 years and over 18 million units, production of the Ford Fiesta will end in the summer of 2023, as electric vehicles are on the brand’s agenda in the future. Developed as the “Bobcat” project, the first Ford Fiesta was launched in 1976. Developed at a cost of billions, a plant was built especially for the small car in Valencia, Spain. Pony, Bambi, Metro or Sierra were discussed as alternative names, and Henry Ford II finally decided in favour of Fiesta.
The seventh generation of the Ford Fiesta got a major facelift in 2021, but with the elimination of the three-door model a year later, it was already clear that the future would not look very rosy. Ford is now officially confirming that the Fiesta will end at the end of June 2023 at the Cologne plant. Until the end of production, only 5-door versions of the Fiesta will roll off the assembly line.
All Ford Fiesta customer vehicles already ordered will be built and delivered. However, one cannot say exactly how long that will be, but one will ensure that Ford dealers are provided with the most up-to-date information that they can pass on to their customers. In addition, with the termination of Fiesta production, the production of combustion engines at the Cologne plant will also be phased out. The production volume of the 1.0-litre petrol engine, which is currently still being manufactured in the Cologne engine plant for other Ford locations, will be relocated to the engine plant in Craiova/Romania.
The Ford Fiesta entered the Indian market back in 1999 as the Ford Ikon sedan in its fourth-generation avatar. It employed a powerful 1.6-litre petrol engine while later in its fifth generation, it was launched under the Fiesta moniker. It was joined by the Ford Fiesta S variant with a retuned suspension and a few other tweaks for responsive handling. Later when the sixth generation Ford Fiesta arrived, the car debuted the new 1.5-litre Ti-VCT engine along with improved safety features. However, due to poor reception, by 2015, Ford pulled the plug on the Fiesta sedan in India and missed out on receiving the Ford Fiesta hatchback altogether.