An almost cathedral-like landmark: the Ford Fiesta is displayed against the impressive backdrop of the city of Cologne.
(Photo: dpa)
Cologne The Ford Fiesta is history. Small car production at Ford’s plant in Cologne will cease on Friday evening and the last three cars produced should remain in the company’s hands as souvenirs.
Some 20 million Fiestas have been built worldwide since 1976, about half of them in Germany – initially in Saarlouis and then in Cologne for several decades. “Carnival’s success story is far from over,” the company wrote in 2016, marking its 40th anniversary. And now the time has come: the last batch of copies is about to go offline.
“This is a major event for Ford,” said industry expert Ferdinand Dudenhoff. “Old Ford farewell to Europe, new electric Ford is coming.”
It’s unclear what status the automaker’s cars will achieve in Europe. The European EV market is highly competitive, not only from Tesla, but also from China.
Ford is currently investing almost 2 billion euros in its Cologne plant, which will be converted into production of the new Stromer models, the first of which will go on sale by the end of this year.
>> Read here: Ford is converting its Cologne plant to an all-electric car factory – but there are four challenges
The first Fiesta hit the market in 1976, model 8440 DM with 40 horsepower, and over the next few generations the vehicle became larger and more technologically advanced. The current sticker price for 75 hp is at least 20,350 euros.
Since 1976, approximately 20 million Fiestas have been built worldwide.
(Photo: imago images/photothek)
“With the Fiesta, Ford is pushing mass motorization one step further and appealing to young people and families with small cars on a budget,” said Dudenhöffer, director of the Center for Automotive Research (CAR) in Duisburg.
The early 1990s were the pinnacle of Carnival sales.
The industry expert said the auto industry managed to “invent the small car” in the big three of Opel Corsa, VW Polo and Ford Fiesta. The Fiesta is particularly popular in southern European countries such as France, Italy and Greece. Sales of the Fiesta peaked in the early 1990s, and success has since faded.
Industry expert Dudenhoff doubts Ford will ever again play such a prominent role in future models as the Fiesta has. “Moving to electric vehicles will be a huge feat for Ford.” New competition with Tesla and the Chinese in the Stromer market will be “tough as nails.”
Experts speak of “the invention of the small car.”
(Photo: gms)
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