For anyone under the age of 40, there has always been a Ford Fiesta. Such longevity confers on it the kind of rarefied status that makes a car synonymous with both the brand and its proclaimed values.
Certainly, the outgoing model – launched back in 2008 – has been not only the bedrock for Ford’s sales in Europe but also the prime conveyor of its ‘Feel the difference’ dynamism and peach-pretty exterior styling.
And although it never managed to be the cheapest, most practical or best-equipped supermini, the Fiesta's virtues repeatedly distinguished it as not only the car to beat in our eyes but also the default option for a new generation of downsizers and first-time buyers.
Consequently – like Volkswagen with the Volkswagen Golf or BMW with the 3 Series or Porsche with the Porsche 911 – when it came to replacing the outgoing Fiesta with a new generation, Ford has opted not to drastically tamper with the formula.
In fact, although the car ultimately earns an ‘all-new’ differentiation from its predecessor, some of it could rightly be described as a far-reaching overhaul rather than a white-space rethink. Instead, Ford’s stated aims have focused on addressing the issues that inevitably crop up when producing the same model for nearly a decade: renovating the styling, reinventing the interior, improving quality and fine-tuning the performance.
