Ford holds facelifted Fiesta prices

FORD Australia has announced a largely unchanged pricing line-up for its upgraded and more highly specified Thai-sourced Fiesta model range, which includes a sedan version for the first time.

As with the recently facelifted Mazda2 range, which is produced in the same Thailand factory as the latest Fiesta, Ford has axed the three-door variant of its Fiesta range, which previously opened the ST-series line-up at $16,090.

The five-door CL petrol hatchback now opens the facelifted WT-series Fiesta range at an unchanged $16,990 plus on-road costs, but now comes with more standard features, including (previously optional) DSC electronic stability control, a driver’s seatbelt-minder, new body-coloured bumpers, new wheel designs, Bluetooth connectivity with voice control, a six-speaker sound system and a ‘temporary mobility kit’.

Left: Ford Fiesta sedan. Below: Ford Fiesta Econetic.

No longer motivated by a 71kW 1.4-litre petrol engine matched with a four-speed automatic transmission, the self-shifting Fiesta CL five-door now scores the same (slightly more powerful) 89kW/151Nm 1.6-litre Ti-VCT petrol four as the CL manual but adds a slick new six-speed Powershift dual-clutch automated manual, for $18,990.

The mid-range five-door Fiesta LX manual increases in price by $200 to $18,990, but in addition to the CL’s standard equipment adds side curtain/thorax airbags, a driver’s knee airbag, front passenger seatbelt minder and a new wheel design.

The Getrag-made Powershift auto version again costs an extra $2000, at $20,990, while the LX five-door is now also available with a 66kW/200Nm 1.6-litre DV6 turbo-diesel engine, matched with a manual transmission only for $21,490.

The flagship of the five-door Fiesta range is the Zetec, which won’t be available until early next year, priced at an unchanged $20,990 as a petrol manual, $22,990 in Powershift auto petrol guise and $23,490 in new (manual-only) diesel form.

On top of the extra CL and LX fare, both Zetec models gain new sports suspension, new sports seats, a new Zetec wheel design and a new sports front bumper with honeycomb grille.

While the fuel-sipping European-sourced Fiesta Econetic hatch is unchanged (and still tops the range at $24,990), the new Fiesta sedan comes with a generous 430 litres of cargo capacity and is available in entry-level CL and mid-spec LX guises.

The CL sedan is a Powershift auto-only petrol model priced at $18,990, while the LX petrol manual also costs $18,990, the LX petrol Powershift costs $20,990 and the LX diesel manual tops the Fiesta sedan range at $21,490.

As we have reported, while the Fiesta Econetic continues to be Australia’s most fuel-efficient vehicle with average consumption of just 3.7L/100km, the same diesel-manual combination in other WT Fiestas returns 4.4L/100km, while all other petrol Fiesta manuals return 6.1L/100km.

2011 Ford Fiestapricing:
CL petrol hatch	$16,990
CL petrol hatch (a)	$18,990
LX petrol hatch	$18,990
LX petrol hatch (a)	$20,990
Zetec petrol hatch	$20,990
Zetec petrol hatch (a)	$22,990
LX diesel hatch	$21,490
Zetec diesel hatch	$23,490
CL petrol sedan (a)	$18,990
LX petrol sedan	$18,990
LX petrol sedan (a)	$20,990
LX diesel sedan	$21,490
Econetic diesel hatch	$24,990