Brazilians will get the new Ford Fiesta sedan as a 2013; Americans will have to wait for the 2014 model-year.
While we got our first look at the updated Ford Fiesta during the maker’s Paris Motor Show news conference we’ve had to wait nearly a month to see what was in store with the face-lifted four-door.
There’s a reason for the wait, of course. In much of the world, hatchbacks dominate while the U.S. is one of the few markets that even will offer a Fiesta sedan. Another is Brazil, and the new Ford model is getting its debut at this week’s Sao Paulo Motor Show.
To complicate matters, Americans will actually have to wait until next year to actually see the Ford Fiesta sedan in showrooms where it will be introduced as a 2014 model.
A familiar face. The updated Ford Fiesta shares its new grille - and other details - with the revised Fusion.
The look of the new Ford Fiesta four-door likely will be familiar to anyone who has been watching the recent design changes at the Detroit-based maker – with the face of the subcompact closely aligned with the styling of the latest Fusion and Focus models. That includes the distinctive trapezoid grille – which was clearly influenced by former Ford subsidiary Aston Martin — and narrower headlamps that flow into the Fiesta’s front fenders.
There are more subtle tweaks to the taillights and the rear deck and fascia, as well.
Inside, the 2013/2014 Ford Fiesta sedan receives some minor but welcome improvements including softer-touch door panels, a new steering wheel and an updated gauge cluster.
In the Brazilian market, the 2013 Ford Fiesta will be powered by a 1.6 liter inline-four cylinder flex fuel engine – reflecting the fact that a sizable portion of the population now fuel up on ethanol made from the country’s abundant sugar cane crop.
The new model will, by Brazilian standards, target a more affluent buy with a variety of upscale features including Ford’s Sync infotainment system.
It will also boast a number of new safety features such as Hill Assist and the relatively uncommon – for Brazil – traction control. There will also be seven airbags.
Much of that will migrate to the American model when it becomes available for 2014, but Ford is also expected to offer a new 3-cylinder 1.0-liter EcoBoost engine for the 2014 Fiesta. That downsized, high-mileage powerplant was revealed in Paris for the European hatchback.
There’s an irony to the news that Ford will stage the launch of the Fiesta sedan in Brazil first. Traditionally, emerging markets had to wait — sometimes years — to get a maker’s latest offerings — today, however, sales are growing so fast and competition has become so intense, that markets like China and Brazil are often at the cutting edge, ahead of older markets in the U.S., Europe and Japan.