7 challenges for the most important new car of 2017

What’s this, rising above the white noise of gimmicky crossovers and heavy hybrids? Only the brilliant rebirth of Britain’s best selling car

THE NEW FIESTA is a small car with a huge weight on its shoulders. Supermini success is crucial to Ford’s bottom line, but today’s market is a radically different place compared to when the last Fiesta was introduced in 2008, let alone when the Fiesta first burst onto the scene in 1976 as conservative Ford’s first front-wheeldrive hatchback.

At first glance Fiesta 8 looks little different from the old one, but a light nip and tuck was never going to be enough. Connectivity and crossovers are the c-words of choice, though probably not of Ford salesmen who have had to deal with a shortage of both, and fall back on another one when closing a deal: chassis.

Ford’s trademark fun-to-drive-ness has served the company well, but this time it won’t be enough on its own. Here are the seven targets the new Fiesta must hit if it’s to continue the legacy rather than turn out to be the last of the line.