Preparing for the launch of the range update for 2023, Ford is also preparing to take a radical decision: the end of the three-door version of the popular Fiesta in Europe.
The news is published on the Motor1 website, confirmed by a spokesperson for Ford Europe, in Germany, who assures that the three-door version of the North American SUV will leave the assembly line as early as next summer.
However, and although the three-door bodywork is on its way out, the five-door, assures the same source, will continue to be produced and marketed.
The new Fiesta range, presented in 2021. The three-door version is about to be “erased” from the picture…
Even so, this too should undergo some changes within some time, according to Ford, not only due to the successive problems that the model has experienced in recent times, as a result of difficulties in the supply chain, but also as a result of the redirection of consumers from this type of proposals, for small crossovers. As is the case, for example, with the Ford Puma.
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Furthermore, and according to the same spokesperson, in statements to Motor1, Ford intends to take advantage of the change in Model Year, or Model Year, to “simplify and reduce supply, also adapting it to demand. Therefore, the less interesting bodies, from the point of view of consumers, will be withdrawn from the offer”.
Incidentally, and about the little Ford, which was once one of the great successes of the blue oval brand on the European continent, it is important to remember that the model is not experiencing one of its best phases, even after receiving a facelift, for 2022.
The 3-door Ford Fiesta, in what is the ST version. Which, however, from this summer onwards, should only be available with a five-door body.
In fact, sales have even fallen during the first two months of this year, to just 7,608 units traded, against the 19,844 registered during the same period in 2021. An abrupt drop that finds much of the explanation in the supply chain, which has many problems have been registered, even limiting availability in terms of options, or even in terms of versions – this is the case, for example, of the Fiesta ST, which some European dealers have already stopped accepting orders. namely, in the three-door variant.
However, even with these difficulties, Ford guarantees that the five-door version will continue to be produced in Cologne, Germany, at the same factory where the North American brand plans to start production of its future EVs, based on the MEB platform. from Volkswagen.
For those who don’t remember, or haven’t even known, this was the first generation of the Ford Fiesta… 46 years ago, and with three doors!
.As for the three-door Fiesta, the farewell is now beginning, after 46 years on the job, and with, at least, one joy – it can be said that it has practically outlived all its rivals, which ended not for as long as Detroit’s little SUV…
