Ford Fiestas pictured at a facility in Cologne, Germany, on Feb. 14, 2023.
Alex Kraus | Bloomberg | Getty Pictures
The final Ford Fiesta is about to roll off the manufacturing line Friday, marking the top of an period that noticed the automobile change into a mainstay of tens of millions of drivers world wide.
The Fiesta has been offered in additional than 50 international locations, with over 22 million automobiles produced since 1976, however Friday will see the final new one manufactured.
In a nod to its significance, the automotive large will maintain on to the ultimate two Fiestas, putting them in its heritage automobile fleets within the U.Okay. and Germany.
“At Ford in Europe, we’re quickly transitioning to an electrical future,” a Ford spokesperson mentioned in a press release.
“As a part of this transition, manufacturing of the Fiesta in Cologne, Germany can be discontinued on 7 July 2023, and a brand new period on the Cologne Electrical Car Middle will start,” they added.
In an announcement final yr, Ford mentioned manufacturing of the Fiesta — a smaller automotive with a particular design — would stop.
The agency is pursuing an electrification strategy, and has beforehand mentioned all of its passenger automobile vary in Europe “can be zero-emissions succesful” by the center of 2026. It is focusing on a completely electrical line-up in Europe by 2030.
These strikes come as international locations in Europe look to transition away from automobiles that use fossil fuels.
The U.Okay., as an illustration, desires to cease the sale of latest diesel and gasoline vehicles and vans by 2030 and would require, from 2035, all new vehicles and vans to have zero tailpipe emissions.
The European Union, which the U.Okay. left on Jan. 31, 2020, can be trying to reduce emissions from street based mostly transportation.
The Ford Fiesta has gone via quite a few design adjustments through the years.
Nationwide Motor Museum/Heritage Pictures | Hulton Archive | Getty Pictures
In remark despatched to CNBC through electronic mail, David Leggett, automotive analyst at GlobalData, mentioned there had been “a market shift in Europe in direction of compact SUVs.”
“In Ford’s case it might slightly promote its increased margin Puma than small hatchbacks,” he added. “The Ford Focus can even disappear from European dealerships in 2025.”
Leggett argued that the rationalization of mannequin strains mirrored, partly, “the necessity for extra funding in electrified fashions.”
“The worldwide semiconductors scarcity that adopted the pandemic additionally hastened the pattern as producers prioritised their increased margin fashions to go away factories,” he mentioned.
“Small hatchbacks just like the Fiesta include notoriously slim margins,” he added. “As quickly as volumes drop-off, they will shortly look unsustainable.”
Leggett additionally touched upon the intensification of competitors, noting {that a} “wave of Chinese language EVs” have been on the best way. “In brief, there isn’t any actual case for the funding to resume a mannequin vary just like the Fiesta. Just like the Focus, it is had its day within the solar. It was an important automotive for Ford, although.”
