Yes you heard that right – the UK’s all-time bestselling car is being scrapped by Ford in June next year. What’s that song… it’s my party and I’ll cry if I want to?
For the car that’s named after the Spanish word for ‘party’, we’re gutted this celebration – which started when the first model rolled off the production line in Dagenham in 1977 – is over.
It’s been a first car for many of us, and a model of loyalty for many others.
Take Karen Fox for example, a civil servant in Edinburgh. She spoke to The Guardian last month as she was due to pick up her fourth version of the model. Little did she know it could be her last.
“I don’t know what I’d go for if I didn’t have the Fiesta,” she said. Sad face.
The Ford Fiesta was the US carmaker's attempt to corner the British car market in the 1970s, thanks to its more affordable price point.
More than 22 million Fiestas have since been built for customers across the globe – it soon shot to the top of best-seller lists and remained there for decades.
4.8 million of those produced were bought in the UK, making the Fiesta the top-selling model for 12 years in a row from 2009 to 2020.
As the UK's 2030 ban on new petrol and diesel cars is fast approaching, experts predict the Puma, a smaller, hybrid SUV, will take the lead as the more affordable option from Ford.
Ford is clearly in the middle of a clear out – on the whole, car manufacturers have launched their EVs under new nameplates rather than updating existing models, so it’s no surprise there are no plans in place for an electric version of the Fiesta supermini.
Ford has also already dropped the Focus model, without an electric version tipped for production, adding to last year’s announcement about scrapping the Mondeo.
We understand the shift to more electric and hybrid cars, of course we do, but finishing the Fiesta?! Roger Moore posed for a picture with an early model while filming The Spy Who Loved Me, so technically, even James Bond liked this car!
Here’s some more Fiesta facts to help lessen the blow:
- Before finding fame, actor Idris Elba was a night shift worker at the Dagenham factory – he built Fiestas for two years
- Famous Fiesta drivers included Nell McAndrew and Jodie Kidd
- The Fiesta was originally developed under the name of “Project Bobcat”
- The base car in 1976 would’ve set you back £1,856 and it had a top speed of 79mph
- The Internet Movie Car Database lists more than 4,000 Fiesta appearances in films
