Ford has confirmed that their flagship hatchback, the Fiesta, is slated to cease production in June 2023. This was conveyed directly by Ford Motor Europe President Martin Sander, who also revealed the company’s focus had shifted.
Quoted from AutoExpress, Sander said that Ford is currently focusing on developing electric cars. Given the regulations on environmentally friendly vehicles, especially in Europe, it is very strict.
“We are accelerating our efforts to fully electrify our passenger vehicle line-up to become fully electric by 2030. We want electric vehicles across our Ford portfolio by 2035,” Sander said as reported by AutoExpress.
“Ford is ready for an electrification transition in the future, which will stop production of the S-Max and Galaxy in Valencia, Spain in April 2023, and stop production of the Fiesta in Cologne, Germany at the end of June 2023.”
Sander also confirmed that Ford is currently developing an electric car, which is expected to be introduced and sold in 2024. He also claimed that the factory in Cologne has the facilities to produce electric vehicles in large numbers.
“We will introduce three new electric cars and four commercial electric vehicles in Europe by 2024. We plan to sell more than 600,000 electric vehicles by 2026. Our facility at the Cologne Electrification Center can also produce 1.2 million electric vehicles within six years, said Sanders.
Ford is indeed undergoing a major transition towards electrification in their vehicle line-up. In March, they also confirmed that the Puma, which is the basis of the Ford Fiesta, will also be available as a fully electric car in 2024.
It is one of three new electric cars mentioned in Sander’s statement, along with two new SUVs, and a crossover. Both are based on the Volkswagen Group MEB platform as part of the bond between the two companies.
The electric Puma will be built at the same plant as commercial vehicles in Craiova, Romania. However, although the Puma will be converted from a conventional engine to an electric motor, there are no plans from Ford to do the same with the Fiesta.
In fact, the Fiesta is the best-selling car in the UK, having sold nearly five million units. The car regularly tops the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders annual registration charts.
Unfortunately, the Ford Fiesta won’t make it to the top 10 in 2021, and while it has a facelifted version in late 2021, it won’t make it to the top 10 in 2022 either.
In addition to sales, the decision to discontinue production of the Ford Fiesta due to rising costs of producing small cars. Small SUV types and the more popular crossovers also make Ford more interested in playing in this segment.
