Showing posts with label Ford Fiesta. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ford Fiesta. Show all posts

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Ford Launches Limited Edition Fiesta Sport+ with 134 Ponies in Europe


Ford is expanding the Fiesta’s European lineup with the Sport+ limited edition based on the three-door variant, and boasting several exterior and interior appointments, plus a tweaked 1.6-liter gasoline engine in order to attract more performance-oriented customers.

On the outside, the Sport+ (dubbed Sport S in Germany and S1600 in the UK) is set apart from its more mundane siblings by the custom Performance Blue or Frozen White paintjob with contrasting racing stripes and comprehensive bodykit that includes a new front bumper, wider side skirts, roof-mounted spoiler and rear diffuser with integrated twin-pipe exhaust. The special Fiesta rides on 17-inch alloys, also finished in white.

Inside, the driver and passenger get sport seats with blue stitching, while the leather steering wheel, handbrake handle and gear knob, side airbags and Motorsport-branded floor mats and scuff plates are all part of the standard equipment list.

However, the biggest change is the spiced up 1.6-liter Duratec Ti-VCT four-pot, delivering 134HP and 160 Nm (118 lb-ft) of torque or 14HP and 8 Nm (6 lb-ft) more than the regular engine. While this doesn’t seem like a major improvement, the Fiesta Sport+ sprints to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 8.7 seconds, 1.2 seconds faster than the 120HP 3-door variant. Top speed is pegged at 195 km/h (121 mph).

With a base price of €18,090 (US $24,440 at today’s exchange rates) in Germany, the Sport+ is also available in the UK, Austria, Switzerland and Belgium.

Monday, February 7, 2011

VW Golf Tops European Sales Chart in First Half of 2009, Ford Fiesta Finishes Second

Despite the heavy competition from the new Ford Fiesta that increased its sales in Europe by a hefty 34.2 percent to 243,340 units in the first half of 2009, VW's Golf continues to dominate the sales charts in the Old Continent with sales up 12.7 percent to 254,023 units in the same period, according to data released by Jato Dynamics. The rest of the top five list was rounded out by the Peugeot 207 with 193,778 units (-20,6 percent), the Opel - Vauxhall Corsa with 181,751 units (-14.1 percent) and the Renault Clio with 144,512 units (-28.0 percent).

Notably, the first ten places were occupied exclusively by European automakers - okay Opel / Vauxhall (at least for the time being) and Ford are controlled by their American parent companies.

Volkswagen was also Europe's top-selling car brand in the first half of the year with 842,787 vehicles sold, up 0.7 percent over the same period in 2008. Ford finished in second place with 666,548 units, down 3.6 percent over last year, followed by GM's Opel - Vauxhall division with 557,739 units (-16.8 percent), Fiat with 542,115 units (-1.4 percent) and Renault with 520,763 units (-18.4 percent).

Data: Jato Dynamics