Ford Fiesta to Make North American Debut at L.A. Auto Show

 Ford Fiesta to Make North American Debut at L.A. Auto Show
2011 Ford Fiesta

Ford of North America is betting the new Fiesta will experience the same kind of success at home as it has in other markets around the world. Europe has been particularly good, with figures reflecting it as the continent's second-best selling car.

The first phase of the Fiesta Movement has been running for months now, gathering information about potential customers and generally building hype around the car. As a result social networking sites like YouTube and Facebook have helped collect about 50,000 potential names.

"This is the perfect time to show the North American Fiesta," said Sam De La Garza, Ford Fiesta marketing manager. "The Fiesta Movement will have wrapped up, and after hearing so much about this car leading up to the reveal, everyone will finally get to see what we are so excited about."

The Movement's next mission which kicks off this month includes a behind-the-scenes look at Microsoft's latest Forza racing game featuring the Fiesta, an exclusive glimpse at the making of the song "They're Everywhere" with Izza Kizza and a mission involving checking out a Detroit Lions game with a former player.

The 2011 Ford Fiesta will be introduced to the US at the 2009 LA Auto Show and sales begin during the spring of 2010.

 


FORD'S NEW FIESTA TO DEBUT AT L.A. AUTO SHOW; FIESTA AGENTS BEGIN FINAL MONTH OF MISSIONS

  • The car consumers can't stop talking about, the 2011 Ford Fiesta, will be revealed at the Los Angeles Auto Show in December
  • Since its kickoff in May, the Fiesta Movement has resulted in more than 50,000 hand-raisers, 97 percent of whom currently do not drive a Ford
  • Fiesta Movement agents embark on entertainment-themed adventures in October for their final month of missions

DEARBORN, Mich., Oct. 6, 2009 - Ford's rollout of its next generation of small cars will hit an important milestone when the new Fiesta is revealed in December at the Los Angeles Auto Show. The reveal of the North American-based Ford Fiesta will also mark the culmination of the first phase of the Fiesta Movement.

Set to arrive in dealer showrooms next summer, the Fiesta already can claim more than 50,000 potential customers thanks to the Fiesta Movement.

"This is the perfect time to show the North American Fiesta," said Sam De La Garza, Ford Fiesta marketing manager. "The Fiesta Movement will have wrapped up, and after hearing so much about this car leading up to the reveal, everyone will finally get to see what we are so excited about."

Fiesta Movement October missions - entertainment
Fiesta Movement agents are entering their final month of missions, and October has them having a blast with missions planned around the theme of entertainment. With 100 missions to choose from, all agents are sure to find an adventure to suit their tastes.

October missions include:

  • Visiting Turn10 Studio, Microsoft's racing studio, to get a look behind closed doors at the making of the latest Forza race game featuring the 2011 Ford Fiesta. The agent will get to design his or her own Fiesta, then climb into a three-screen simulator complete with hydraulics to put the new game to the test.
  • A behind-the-scenes glimpse into the production of a music video with Izza Kizza. The hip-hop artist is creating his music video for the song "They're Everywhere," and one lucky Fiesta agent will get to be right there, front and center, for the fun.
  • Hanging out in the recording studio with Jukebox the Ghost. The indie pop group is recording its new album; a Fiesta agent will be checking out the band's new tunes right along with them.
  • Several missions for football fanatics, from checking out a Detroit Lions game with a former player, to watching a Philadelphia Eagles warm-up, to hanging out for the team's game and meeting the broadcast group for the Eagles.

During each mission and after its completion, agents upload content to the Fiesta Movement Web site or the social media platform of their choice. Using www.fiestamovement.com, visitors can follow the ride by accessing the live feed feature to keep current on what the agents have to say about Fiesta and their missions.

Spreading the word
After kicking off the Fiesta Movement and embarking on their first missions in May, agents created a big impression in the social media world, including:

  • More than 4.3 million video views on YouTube
  • More than 540,000 photo views on Flickr
  • More than 3 million impressions on Twitter

Fiesta sales success
Fiesta is continuing its sales momentum as Europe's No. 2-selling car and Ford of Europe's top-selling vehicle, helping Ford's share in Europe's main 19 markets increase for the eighth consecutive month.

Nearly 340,000 Fiestas have been sold since the car was launched last autumn, with 21,800 delivered to customers in August. Fiesta was the best-selling foreign vehicle in August in both Italy and France.

In Europe, the Fiesta name has long been synonymous with outstanding drive quality, design and value. The all-new Ford Fiesta will bring its three-decade heritage to U.S. consumers in 2010.

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About Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company, a global automotive industry leader based in Dearborn, Mich., manufactures or distributes automobiles across six continents. With about 201,000 employees and about 90 plants worldwide, the company's automotive brands include Ford, Lincoln, Mercury and Volvo. The company provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company. For more information regarding Ford's products, please visit www.ford.com.

 

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 9TNine 9TNine
When Ford US launched the first Focus in the USA it was a totally different car to the Euro-version. They just looked about the same, that’s all! The US market Focus was built in Mexico. It had the most awful, cheapest interior plastics… It had smaller (strange that as Americans tend to be larger), uncomfortable, cheap-looking front seats... Most of the instrumentation were stripped out… In fact, it looked like some very poor imitation from some third world country! It made the Euro Focus appear like a very expensive luxury car! I don’t think the US Focus was a sales success. I looked at it and didn’t buy one! It was crap! My last car prior to that was a Euro-Focus! Well, now Ford US wants to launch the Fiesta there…! Good luck! Those US Ford chiefs sure know how to screw up a good product!
October 7, 2009 5:39 pm
 mldrieling mldrieling
As a preception most Americans (I am American) see small as "cheap". That is why the last head of Ford took out content from the last Focus. The problem was that they didn't update the chasis with the rest of the world Foci. The new bosses at Ford have seen the light. They are bringing the Fiesta, the Focus C-Max, the Transit Connect, etc. to America. They now have a hybrib that gets better mileage then the Camry Hybrid. I would only hope that Ford will keep the content and will start to bring their Euro-Engines over here.
October 7, 2009 11:41 pm