2018 Ford Fiesta: The spunky subcompact grows up a bit
The current Ford Fiesta may have had a relatively short history in the United States, but in Europe it has been one of Ford’s most important products for decades. For the past four years, it has been the bestselling small car in Europe, and now a new, seventh-generation Fiesta (only the first- and sixth-generation versions have been sold in the U.S.) is here to keep the good times rolling. Given how much the outgoing European Fiesta shares with its North American equivalent, we don’t expect much to change before this next-gen model arrives here sometime next year.
Ford showed both four-door and two-door hatchback body styles of the new Fiesta, the latter of which is unlikely for the U.S. Compared with the current four-door hatchback, the new version is slightly larger, with a 0.2-inch wheelbase stretch, a 0.4-inch-wider rear track, and a 1.2-inch-wider front track. The design accentuates a wider and lower stance and more athletic lines at the rear.
The interior improvements are more dramatic, as the dashboard presents a much more appealing and modern interface than the current Fiesta’s low-rent maze of buttons. An 8.0-inch touchscreen (which we assume is optional) sprouts from the center stack and uses Ford’s Sync 3 software; volume and tuning knobs, along with a few other audio buttons, are below.
Rear-seat room is supposedly expanded, and the rear hatch offers a larger opening than before.
At this point, details are only available on three engine choices: 1.0- and 1.1-liter threecylinder gasoline engines and a 1.5-liter four-cylinder turbodiesel. The 1.0-liter EcoBoost three-cylinder is the most likely of these to reach the U.S., given that the current Fiesta already offers a similar engine here. The updated 1.0-liter turbo-three delivers up to 138 horsepower (15 more than the current U.S.spec engine) and pairs with a six-speed manual or six-speed automatic transmission. Expect Ford also to offer a naturally aspirated four-cylinder engine in the U.S., possibly a version of the current Fiesta’s standard 1.6-liter four-cylinder.
Ford says the new Fiesta’s body is stiffer than before and that it has increased sound deadening and an acoustically insulating windshield to decrease interior noise levels. The suspension remains the same strut-front and torsion-beam rear setup, and brake-based electronic torque vectoring is available. All sorts of advanced safety systems are offered, including park assist, adaptive cruise control, blind-spot warning, forward-collision warning, pedestrian detection, and lane-keeping assist—none of which are offered on the outgoing Fiesta.
Ford is emphasizing the newfound breadth of the Fiesta lineup with four distinct versions of the hatchback that will be offered on the Continent (we don’t know how many of these versions will make it to the States). Beyond the standard Fiesta four-door hatchback, revealed in Titanium trim, there’s also an upscale Vignale model, a crossover-inspired Active variant with a slightly higher ride height and extra body cladding, and a sport-oriented ST-Line model (don’t mistake it for a full-blown ST hot hatch, which will come later). Expect more information to be released next year on our Fiesta, since the redesigned hatchback and a possible sedan variant likely will arrive here in time for the 2018 model year.