We've begged for Ford to begin selling some of its perceived-to-be excellent international wares in the U.S. and today we've learned our wait is over. Motor Trend is reporting that the next generation Ford Fiesta will be sold in the U.S. by late 2008, about a year after it's introduced in Europe. The new Ford Fiesta is based on the same platform as the Mazda2 that was officially introduced at the Geneva Motor Show in March. We lamented at the time neither the Mazda or its Ford counterpart would ever be sold on U.S. shores, but apparently Ford had decided before the Geneva show that the Fiesta would be bound for the U.S.

The Ford Fiesta is a B-segment vehicle that will slot neatly below the current Ford Focus. Though we don't know exactly what the next-gen model will look like, MT is reporting that Ford of Europe's "kinetic" design language will not be tinkered with much during its transfer. That means we're not likely to see the Fiesta wearing a three-bar chrome grille, which is hardly tragic considering Ford of Europe's "kinetic" cars are equally if not much better looking than their U.S. counterparts.

Though the profit potential of selling the Fiesta in the U.S. is likely very weak, the arrival of a small car fills a gaping hole in Ford's lineup. The Honda Fit, Toyota Yaris, Chevy Aveo and more are competing fiercely right now in our domestic small car market. To say the arrival of a European-bred Ford Fiesta will be interesting is an understatement, to say the least.

[Source: Motor Trend]

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ehhh.. Who cares. I'm sorry to say this but companies like Honda, Toyota , Nissan etc just do this "rice burner" market better.
They invented the market. They have been doing this for years and never quit on it like Ford. I wish em the best. But I don't think bringing the Festiva back is going to save the ship.

Hey it beats taking the honking Excursion to the store down the street to just pick up milk and bread. But those headlights look like um...... poop. Otherwise it's not too bad.

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The Ford GT= Greatest of all Time :thumbsup:

Spy Shots: 2009 Ford Fiesta on U.S. soil

What a beauty



KGP photographers are the first to have caught the 2009 Ford Fiesta testing on American soil. These shots give us, and many Europeans, our first look at the sub-Focus car that will be sold in both Europe and the U.S. As we learned back in March when Ford announced the new European Fiesta would also be sold in the U.S., the two cars will be virtually identical save for a little longer nose on the U.S. version to meet our own crash safety standards. Based on the same platform as the Mazda2, the new Fiesta will wear a more conventional look that will likely please the masses more than the Mazda's swoopy design. Though the camo does its best confuse the corneas, we can definitely make out pronounced wheel arches on the car, and a more typical set of rear taillamps that don't climb up the C-pillar like on the Focus. While rear overhang is virtually absent, the nose on this test mule does project far out in front of the lead wheels, which implies that Ford may be far along in making the design and engineering tweaks necessary to sell the Fiesta in the U.S. While there's no clear shot of the Fiesta's face this time, one can clearly see the influence of Ford of Europe's design language in the shape of the headlights and the grille. Our sources say we'll get no three-bar grille, as the Fiesta marks the first official comingling of Ford's Red, White and Bold (U.S.) and Kinetic (Europe) design themes in the same market. Though the Fiesta isn't expected to go on sale until at least late next year as a 2009 model, we want to know if you think it will be worth the wait.

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