2011 Ford Fiesta

In Spanish, una Fiesta is often literally a multi-day celebration, which could encompass a carnival, holiday, celebration or party. With Ford’s North American-bound Fiesta, the company is hoping for all of the above when the Dearborn, Michigan, automaker releases the Fiesta four-door sedan or five-door hatch this summer as a sub-Focus, Euro-bred offering aimed squarely at trendsetters.

Available with a single choice of engine and two choices each for body style and transmission, Ford is hoping that the Fiesta is the next big (small) thing in automotive style among drivers, young and old.

From a base SE trim level, to SES Sport and SEL high line trim levels, there is clearly something for everyone – as Leftlane’s Mark Kleis learned early on as a Fiesta Agent by participating in Ford’s unique social marketing experiment.

Expressing yourself
Like Kia is doing with its Soul, Ford is hoping to conquest young and in-the-know customers that suddenly don’t find Toyota’s Scion division hip anymore. Words like “expressive,” “flowing,” and “sculptured” are words rarely uttered from the lips of Ford officials. Not so with this entry. Designed to compete against the natural predators in the segment, including the Honda Fit, Toyota Yaris and Nissan Versa, it manages to hold its own both in terms of performance and in its ample feature content.

The Fiesta features Ford’s now-common kinetic design language to give the car the appearance of movement while standing still. Sporting the typical Blue Oval-adorned grille opening, the Fiesta sedan shows the now-familiar trapezoidal shaped intake seen on the Fusion and Taurus. Order the four door and, not surprisingly, you get a traditional three-box body with a trunk.

On the other hand, click the order box for the five-door hatch and you get the European-model front fascia with a body-colored grille and a floating blue oval logo. Headlamps lend “eyes” to the situation and show interesting lenses to spread the light pattern where it’s needed.

Scalloped side panels show body creases that add interest to the vehicle—as well as add strength to the overall vehicle. At the rear, a chamfered rear window is offered shade from a hatch-mounted rear spoiler. Overall aero is good to a drag coefficient of 0.33 Cd.