Ford Confirms Fiesta Manufacturing Ending In 2023, Teases Puma EV

It seems the stories from earlier this week have been right – Ford has formally confirmed the Fiesta shall be discontinued in June 2023. One of many longest-standing nameplates within the firm’s portfolio shall be changed by an all-electric model of the Puma crossover, which shall be produced in Cologne, Germany, beginning subsequent yr. The automaker launched a touching two-minute video (see beneath) to say goodbye to the Fiesta and to additionally preview its zero-emissions substitute.

The Fiesta has been on sale for 47 years over 9 generations. The manufacturing presently takes place in Cologne and Ford says solely the five-door model of the hatchback will proceed to roll off the meeting line till the summer season of subsequent yr. All buyer orders shall be constructed and the producer will maintain the order books open till the remaining manufacturing quantity is crammed. The Fiesta ST sizzling hatch may also be discontinued in 2023.

The tip of manufacturing of the Fiesta may also mark the tip of manufacturing of inner combustion engines at considered one of Ford’s most necessary factories exterior america. The Cologne plant shall be reworked into the Cologne Electrification Heart, the place the Puma EV shall be manufactured beginning subsequent yr. Ford needs to achieve 1.2 million electrical automobiles produced at that plant throughout the subsequent six years. The manufacturing of the corporate’s 1.0-liter EcoBoost three-cylinder engine, in flip, shall be relocated to the engine plant in Craiova, Romania.

The unique Ford Fiesta was launched in 1976 and greater than 18 million items of the hatchback have been constructed and delivered worldwide since then. The Fiesta has been manufactured in at the least 13 totally different international locations world wide, together with the UK, Spain, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, South Africa, and extra. 

Whereas it’s undoubtedly unhappy to see considered one of Ford’s pivotal fashions go away the scene, the automaker is assured the long run belongs to electrical mobility and it needs to go “all in” on electromobility “at an accelerated price.” In consequence, Ford will launch no fewer than three new purely electrical passenger automobiles and 4 electrical industrial automobiles on the Previous continent by 2024.

Earlier this yr, the automaker additionally discontinued the Mondeo, considered one of Europe’s most liked D-segment fashions, however Ford says it’s going to have at the least one plug-in or absolutely electrical mannequin in each automobile section on the continent from 2026. Whether or not that features a successor to the Mondeo, which remains to be bought in China as a completely redesigned mannequin, stays to be seen.