The Ford Fiesta is a front wheel drive supermini/subcompact manufactured and marketed by Ford Motor Company and built
in Europe, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Venezuela, China, India, Thailand and South Africa. The current-generation Fiesta
is marketed worldwide.
By 2010, the sixth-generation (Mark VI) Fiesta had been introduced worldwide, including in the United States and
Canada—making it the first Fiesta model to be sold in North America since 1980.
The Fiesta was originally developed under the project name “Bobcat” and approved for development by Henry Ford II in
September 1972. Development targets indicated a production cost US$100 less than the current Ford Escort. The car was
to have a wheelbase longer than that of the Fiat 127, but with overall length shorter than that of Ford’s Escort.
with Ford’s engineering centres in Cologne and Dunton (Essex) collaborating.
Ford estimated that 500,000 Fiestas a year would be produced, and built an all-new factory near Valencia,
Spain; a transaxle factory near Bordeaux, France; factory extensions for the assembly plants in Dagenham, UK, and
Saarlouis, Germany. Final assembly also took place in Valencia