At a special event at Ford’s Cologne, Germany manufacturing facility Tuesday, the automaker will finally pull the wraps off of the all-new Ford Fiesta subcompact – anticipated to go on sale as a 2018 model-year car. Before that happens, we figured we would run through what we know about the pint-sized passenger vehicle.
The Ford Fiesta Mk VII (Mk VIII in the UK) is expected to be more evolution than revolution when it goes on sale next year. Test mule sightings from the past several months have revealed that the subcompact’s track and width may grow slightly, but height, length, and wheelbase won’t budge far, if at all. Spy photographs all but confirm that the new Ford Fiesta will be available as a three-door or five-door hatchback, but there’s no reason not to expect a four-door sedan body style, too.
As with the current model, we don’t suspect the three-door will ever go on sale here in the US.
The biggest change expected for the 2018 Ford Fiesta is a shift slightly upmarket. Ford Europe has had to nix the two lowest-cost trim levels of the current model to make room for the even-cheaper Ford Ka+ supermini, and while the Ka+ will likely keep to its side of the pond, we’re expecting finer materials and improved fit-and-finish inside the new US-market Ford Fiesta’s cabin, as well. That will likely drive up the roughly-$14k base price, but not by much.
More than likely, the current 1.6-liter Ti-VCT I4 and 1.0-liter EcoBoost I3 petrol engines will carry over into 2018 in the US, although the latter will likely receive more emphasis as Ford chases improved fuel efficiency. We don’t expect any transmissions beyond the current 5-speed manual and 6-speed PowerShift dual-clutch, either – at least, not until a new Ford Fiesta ST comes along years down the road.
We do think there will be a new ST, but as was the case with the current ST, it won’t be available right out of the gate.
Stay tuned as Ford reveals the all-new, 2018 Ford Fiesta at a special event on Tuesday, November 29th.
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