Story: DAVID WILKINS
FORD has started making a revamped version of Britain’s best-selling car, the Fiesta, at its factory in Cologne.
The main point of interest for company car buyers?
The arrival of the economical and smooth-running three cylinder 1.0-litre EcoBoost petrol engine that’s already collected rave reviews in the Focus and B-Max – in the Ford Focus we voted it our Company Car of the Year – and an 87g/km 1.6 ECOnetic diesel, good for a 13% company car tax band for the next few tax years.
As well as this, the updated Ford Fiesta gets some styling mods, especially at the front, and apart from those big under-bonnet changes there are a few pieces of choice new technology as well.
Roelant de Waard, vice president, Marketing, Sales and Service, Ford of Europe: “The new Fiesta has seven powertrain options – both diesel and petrol – that deliver fuel economy of less than 100 grams of CO2 per kilometre”
On the safety front, there’s Active City Stop, which automatically brakes the car to prevent low-speed collisions, and MyKey, which allows parents to limit the car’s performance when inexperienced teen-aged drivers are at the wheel.
There’s also SYNC, Ford’s voice-activated connectivity system that integrates car and mobile phone, allowing the combination to be controlled by spoken commands, a feature that should really help business motorists keep in touch with the office while on the move. SYNC has a safety angle too – SYNC Emergency Assist connects the car’s occupants to local emergency services in the event of an accident.
The new Ford Fiesta, which can be added to an SME’s company car policy now, goes on sale from January 2013.
