www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-63391466
Ford are dropping the 6th best selling car in the UK, small(er) cars being victims of the switch to EVs.
madness
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Inevitable. Small cars like the Fiesta just don't make any money these days. In economic terms cars have been too cheap for years and manufactureres need to drive up the average cost. Small relatively cheap cars with small profit margins are doomed im afraid.
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It's not dead, it's resting. Having a Siesta.
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>> It's not dead, it's resting. Having a Siesta.
I thought it was going out on the Razzle?
(BBD will probably get that pun)
Last edited by: VxFan on Wed 26 Oct 22 at 10:54
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>> Inevitable. Small cars like the Fiesta just don't make any money these days. In economic
>> terms cars have been too cheap for years and manufactureres need to drive up the
>> average cost. Small relatively cheap cars with small profit margins are doomed im afraid.
Nah problem is there is no room for batteries. So you have to stack them in the floor, jack it up and pretend its a Mini SUV.
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>> Inevitable. Small cars like the Fiesta just don't make any money these days. In economic
>> terms cars have been too cheap for years and manufactureres need to drive up the
>> average cost. Small relatively cheap cars with small profit margins are doomed im afraid.
>>
That's true, stick, £8500 (the cost of the current shape but pre-facelifted Fiesta on Top Gear in 2008), in to the Bank of England inflation calculator and you get £12,415, not the £18,000 a new one costs today. So they are probably making more.
Of course for bigger cars the ££££ difference (profit0 is bigger, hence culling the smaller models, especially when many costs are similar or only marginally more for extra materials (the labour element is going to be broadly the same).
If there are no stepping stones, will people who start to drive using other manufacturers' smaller cars switch to Ford as they become more wealthy or stay with the brand they started on?
IMHO Ford is not an aspirational brand that people will be willing to switch to.
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I think that all manufacturers are going down the same route. Producing high volumes of cheap cars has clearly not been a good long term strategy . Electrification has given them a way to draw a line under that. You can buy very little under £25,000 in the way of an electric car.
The strategy of fewer but more expensive cars also aligns nicely with governmental aims to reduce the number of vehicles on the road so a reversion to a small cheap car strategy is not going to happen.
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I’m sort of sad about that for no logical reasons really. It is highly unlikely that I would buy a Fiesta in the foreseeable future, so I’m not sure why I even slightly care. But I do a bit. It was the same with Mondeos when they pulled them too.
I guess my son might have bought a Fiesta in due course, and I suppose I just might have bought another Mondeo estate at some point, but obviously in either instance they wouldn’t now be new ones.
Cars from a bygone era I suppose, but both pretty good ones of their time.
I’ll get over it no doubt. ;-)
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Mrs Z is devastated*, she loves her Fiestas, and I do in a way they always handled fantastically and rode well for a small car.
*Specially when I told her now she has a bus pass she is now in her Honda Jazz/ T Yaris period of life.
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Fine cars Honda Jazzes. I suggested one for my wife too. But, in fairness, I was able to walk unaided less than a week later.
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>> *Specially when I told her now she has a bus pass she is now in
>> her Honda Jazz/ T Yaris period of life.
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Cheeky...
Nothing wrong with a Yaris.
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You can buy very little under
>> £25,000 in the way of an electric car.
>>
Currently, who knows what might be on sale on 15 years.
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Just remembering our Fiesta's and Fords....
MK1 Ghia. Expensive car for us at the time, 1985 to 87 when it was written off in a crash.
Constant piston problems - loads of oil in the air filter. It always seemed to be in the garage.
MK3. Bargain price. For Mrs Z. I had a company car. Got it about in 1991. Ex Motability car. Exhaust broke. On taking it to an exhaust centre they had problems sourcing the part because it was the first of the MK3s and the design only lasted a short time before being changed. They got the new exhaust in but when they came to fit it, they didn't because the problem was the engine mount. One side looked like it had never been fitted, so the engine rose every-time it was put under load, being and then weakening the exhaust. So had to get that fixed first elsewhere. Borrowed money from Dad to buy it and was paying him back weekly. There was about £1k to go (about £3 or £4k now) and when Miss Z was born he refused to take a penny more.
Ford Escort Diesel "J" reg. New in about 1991. No power steering, no aircon. Radio got so hot you could cook on it. Died on the M25 J5 in lane 3, luckily in the middle of the night no problem free wheeling across to the hard shoulder. (Was in lane 3 because the exit was on the right, not the usual left). Had to wait 3 hours for a tow truck.
MK2 runaround for me when I got a job without a company car. It was a dog. Kept pulling left, (didn't on the test drive). Battery wouldn't charge, changed alternator and battery, still unreliable so got rid.
MK3, 1997ish, much better MK3. Had it for a little while then got a new company car so gave it to Mrs Z. Door locks failed. Used those new thin keys. Replaced the locks myself - really surprised to find how easy they were to pop out - held in place by a piece of tensioned metal.
Focus - MK1. Hire Car 2001. Had it for about two weeks between jobs. Hated it. Could find a decent seating position and B column, between the front and back doors was a huge blind spot.
Focus MK1, 2003, Hire Car, lovely. Don't know what the difference was between this and the first one but like chalk and cheese.
Focus MK1 - Dad got one in about 2004. The dash board failed just out of warranty. Ford charged lots to fix it. Turned out they didn't use lacquer to protect the circuit board for the dash to save a few pennies per car. Was on Watchdog and Dad got a refund. Was ok after that.
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I've had four, all as tuition cars. The two Mk2s were dreadful by today's standards, both drove so differently to each other they could have been completely separate models. The perils of parts machined on a lathe by a guy with a fag hanging out of his mouth I suppose. They were bangers by the time they got to 60k.
Next up was the Mk3, known as the Classic IIRC, much improved in every department. The last was a 2001 model, more in tune with modern reliability standards and much nicer to drive.
However, even the early ones were a galaxy ahead of their Metro rival, one of the most unreliable dogs I've ever owned.
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Ford Fiesta - Fiesta is dead - CGNorwich
