10:48 am, October 26, 2022
Ford has confirmed it’s killing off the Fiesta, S-Max and Galaxy as it transitions to an electric future.
The Blue Oval made the announcement this morning and released a nostalgic video for the Fiesta (which you can watch above).
The decision comes amid dwindling sales of MPVs and superminis being ditched as carmakers seek higher profit margins with SUVs and crossovers.
Ford’s Cologne factory in Germany will make the last Fiesta by the end of June 2023.
Production of the S-Max and Galaxy people-carriers in Valencia, Spain, will cease three months earlier.
For the Fiesta, the curtain will fall on 45 years of sales.
Up until the Covid-19 pandemic, the Fiesta was routinely the best-selling car and topped new car sales tables month after month.
It was the UK’s best-selling new car for 12 years in a row between 2009 and 2020.
In July 2014, Ford declared the Fiesta to be the best-selling vehicle ever in the UK with over 4.1m sales since 1976.
Since then, the total has reached nearly five million.
The Fiesta has only appeared twice in the monthly top 10 best-selling cars data, collated by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), once in 2022.
In September, Ford shifted 4,570 Fiestas securing it sixth place in that month’s best-sellers chart, while in March it finished 10th with 3,890 registrations.
The supermini and its hatchback brother, the Focus, have been replaced by the Puma and Kuga in the top-sellers chart.
Ford will now quickly roll-out a raft of new electric cars, and the Fiesta doesn’t feature in that product plan.
Martin Sander, general manager, Ford Model e Europe, said: ‘At Ford in Europe, we are accelerating our efforts to go all-in on electrification with our passenger vehicles being fully electric by 2030 – and all vehicles across our Ford portfolio by 2035.
‘As we get ready to transition to an electric future, we will discontinue production of S-Max and Galaxy in Valencia, Spain in April 2023 and discontinue Fiesta production in Cologne, Germany by end of June 2023.’
He added: ‘We will introduce three new exciting electric passenger vehicles and four new electric commercial vehicles in Europe by 2024.
‘We plan to sell more than 600,000 electric vehicles in the region by 2026, and the electric passenger vehicle production at the Cologne Electrification Centre will reach 1.2m vehicles over a six-year timeframe.’
The Ford Fiesta remains a hit in the used car market, however.
The SMMT’s most recent used car data shows there were 71,429 sales of the Fiesta in Q2 2022 – more than any other used car.
Auto Trader data shows there have been 43m advert views of used Ford Fiestas between September 2021 and September 2022, with the average selling price being £10,956.
It was also named Used Small Car of the Year in the 2021 Car Dealer Used Car Awards.
Commenting on the Ford announcement, Used Car Awards host and Mr Wheeler Dealer, Mike Brewer said: ‘I have made my career with cars like the Fiesta, Escort, Capri and Cortina, and have helped to keep these cars alive.
‘Killing off the Fiesta is heart-breaking.
‘I understand Ford has a vision and there is race towards electric SUVs, but scrapping the Fiesta when it’s still so popular is madness – it’s a global car and you see them everywhere.’
Brewer added: ‘No doubt we’ll see the Fiesta name again in the next decade on some pumped up electric SUV.’
Auto Trader editorial director Erin Baker said that although the axe falling is sad, Ford’s decision to make EVs more accessible is ‘a very positive step’.
‘After 46 years and 4.8m sales, it’s a shame to see that the end is in sight for the iconic Ford Fiesta,’ she said.
‘Our data shows that the Fiesta was the most advertised car on our marketplace this year with over 100,000 listings. In fact, since 2019 we’ve seen over half a million Fiestas advertised on our platform, which really does highlight just how beloved it is.
‘Interestingly enough, we identified a Fiesta capital of Britain when looking into the data, it shows that the people in the south east of England have a particular soft spot for this car.
‘Although it’s sad to see such an icon disappear from the market, it should enable one of the biggest car brands to really knuckle down on EVs and make them more accessible to more car buyers, which is a very positive step in the right direction.’
The decision to kill off the Fiesta, S-Max and Galaxy follows the axing of the Mondeo earlier this year.
Ford has also confirmed the production of the Focus will end in 2025.
What are your memories of selling the Ford Fiesta? Email us at [email protected]
