The next summer The history of the Ford Fiesta will come to an end after 47 years in business (1976 – 2023). The end of the Ford utility will take place without a direct replacement in sight, thus leaving room for a Ford Puma that is reaping a notable sales success and that will also receive an electric variant by 2024. Thus, the Ford Fiesta will say goodbye to us forever in 2023 becoming another victim of the SUV fashion.
Manufactured at the Ford plant in Cologne (Germany), the Fiesta is one of the iconic models of the American brand, however in recent years their sales have been drastically reduced, reaching a drop of 45% in the last year. However, its SUV alternative, the Ford Puma, which has also suffered a 14% drop in sales due to component shortages, far outstrips total Puma sales to become Ford’s best-selling model in Europe by right. While 91,604 units of the Puma have been sold until August, 39,395 units of the Fiesta have been delivered.
The rise of SUVs in the B segment is putting the conventional utility in check
Given this scenario, and bearing in mind that the Fiesta is approaching the end of its commercial life cycle, what Ford has done is advance the cessation of production of the Fiesta for the summer of 2023, a year ahead of schedule. Ford has not wanted to offer details about this movement, but everything seems to respond to a restructuring of the productive capacity to focus entirely on the Ford Puma.
And it is that in addition to considering the sales success of the Ford Puma, we must also take into account that Ford has already confirmed the arrival of an electric Puma by 2024, a model that will be manufactured at the Ford factory in Craiova (Romania). With this move, Ford would have completely covered the B segment with up to 3 SUVs: EcoSport, Puma and Puma EVthis being a market category where conventional utility vehicles have less and less weight since buyers are betting on SUV-type bodies.
What we don’t know yet is whether Ford will do without the Fiesta altogether.as this denomination has been strongly linked to the brand for almost 50 years, being an absolute reference among utility cars.
Font: AutomotiveNews
