Even though Ford is an American brand, the company manages to find loyalists across the Atlantic in the Queens land. The American automaker is pretty famous across the UK and is one of the more popular auto brands the country has seen. In fact, with over 100 years of existence, Ford is the biggest selling automotive manufacturer in the UK with its range of products. Further strengthening its position in the market, July 2014 saw the Ford Fiesta hatchback become the UK’s best selling vehicle nameplate of all time.
The Fiesta achieved a total sales of 41,15,000 units over a course of 37 years, when it first went on sale in 1976. The Fiesta hatchback has led the small car segment in the UK for almost 27 years and was also the country’s best selling car in 2009, overtaking the bigger Ford Focus. To mark the momentous milestone, Ford has added the exquisite ‘FMC1’ registration to a Fiesta that is enroute Scotland for the ongoing Commonwealth Games this year.
The Fiesta is not the first Ford to have achieved the best selling vehicle mark. The previous record was held by the Ford Escort, which sold 41,05,961 units of the vehicle over the course of 32 years in the UK and was sold from 1968 to 2000. Based on Ford’s global B-car platform, the sixth generation Fiesta (MkVII in the UK) offers brilliant driving dynamics, progressive styling courtesy of the kinetic design language and the very potent 1.0-litre EcoBoost engine performing under the hood. Ford also stated that the Fiesta outsells its nearest retail competitor in the segment by more than two to one ratio.
40 percent of buyers in the UK choose the turbocharged EcoBoost engine and 90 percent of the buyers opt to go for the higher spec Zetec, Zetec S, Titanium X and ST models. With features like remote locking, power windows, electrically operated ORVMs, Hill Launch Assist, 7 airbags, ESP and headlight courtesy delay, the Fiesta proves to be a potent package for customers looking at performance and practicality. The hatchback also features the Ford SYNC voice-control connectivity system on the top-end variants. The popular Ford Fiesta Zetec variant is priced at 12,945 Pounds (Rs. 13.21 lakhs) in the UK.
