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Ford Bringing Fiesta to America
Ford Motor Co. today confirmed plans to bring the next-generation Ford Fiesta subcompact car to North America as part of a plan to move toward greater communization of products on both sides of the Atlantic.

Ford of Europe Chairman Lewis Booth confirmed the plan while addressing analysts at the Merrill Lynch Global Automotive Conference being held in conjunction with the Geneva auto show.

Booth also dismissed reports that an agreement to sell Ford's Aston Martin brand had been reached, but said he is confident the brand will be sold by the end of the year.

Reuters reported Monday that a sale could be announced as early as this week, citing unnamed sources who told the wire service that the price had been fixed at more than $865 million. Reuters said the most likely buyer was Formula One team Prodrive in partnership with Egypt's Naeem investment bank.

"We've had a lot of interest," Booth said. "(But) this process is ongoing and, contrary to the papers, we've not reached a conclusion."

He said Jaguar is "not for sale at the present," but stopped short of the definitive "no" he gave to questions about whether Ford plans to sell Volvo.

Booth said Volvo is playing a central role in the development of new technologies and new platforms for Ford globally, and he said that is the sort of work that will help all of the company's brands.

Platform communization is central tenet of the strategy outlined by Ford CEO Alan Mulally, and Booth said Ford of Europe expects to contribute plenty to that process -- beginning with the new Fiesta.

As The Detroit News first reported in November, the company will base the new B-car on the new Mazda2, which will be unveiled at the Geneva auto show tomorrow.

The News reported last week that Ford of Europe has been given primary responsibility for developing the Blue Oval version of the vehicle.

Booth said the company is also looking for other opportunities to communize products.

"It could, potentially, range up to Mondeo size," Booth said, referring to Ford of Europe's new midsize sedan, which will be introduced at the Geneva show.

But he said Americans will not see a Mondeo in showrooms anytime soon. The Ford Fusion, which fills the same niche, is only in its second model year and the new Mondeo is just getting ready to begin its first, so Booth said it will take a full product cycle before Ford has an opportunity to converge those two vehicles.

Ford of Europe posted a pretax profit of $455 million last year, before accounting for one-time charges, and Booth said it will remain profitable in 2007. Ford's Premier Automotive Group, which includes Aston Martin, Jaguar, Land Rover and Volvo, lost $344 million last year. Booth called those results "disappointing," but said he expects the group to be profitable this year.

Booth acknowledged that Ford of Europe "saw over the cliff" before launching its own restructuring plan, and he said valuable lessons have been learned that could be applied in the United States.

"I think we are a little bit ahead of North America," Booth said. "A lot of what we're doing will translate very well into helping Ford North America. Read Article
Ford Bringing Fiesta to America



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cdokecdoke - 3/5/2007 4:33:14 PMView My AgentSpace
+4 BoostDrop the Boost Up the Boost
...hm...more like siesta...

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Sauceboy01Sauceboy01 - 3/5/2007 5:18:17 PM
+2 BoostDrop the Boost Up the Boost
hahahaa!!


DallasMR2DallasMR2 - 3/5/2007 5:39:37 PM
+2 BoostDrop the Boost Up the Boost
LOL! nice.


pacotacololpacotacolol - 3/5/2007 8:20:45 PMView My AgentSpace
+2 BoostDrop the Boost Up the Boost
THE FORD DUDES WERE REALLY THINKING 'BRONX' WHEN THEY DESIGNED THIS ONE


RupertRupert - 3/5/2007 5:34:28 PMView My AgentSpace
-1 BoostDrop the Boost Up the Boost
really?
good news, the fiesta is a nice car


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aarononymousaarononymous - 3/5/2007 7:07:43 PM
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I'll buy it, the Mazda2 that is.

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Terminal10Terminal10 - 3/5/2007 7:08:14 PM
+1 BoostDrop the Boost Up the Boost
Ford needs to fire everyone who designs or contributes designs (except Shelby) and then get rid of the designers bosses who green light a design or not. Start all over.

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FerrarisR4meFerrarisR4me - 3/5/2007 8:22:06 PM
0 BoostDrop the Boost Up the Boost
wow... i thouhgt we got rid of that monstrosity 15-20 years ago

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S4cabriofoxoneS4cabriofoxone - 3/5/2007 9:15:32 PMView My AgentSpace
+1 BoostDrop the Boost Up the Boost
Why? We already have the Edge. Is this any better? It's smaller, that I know.

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chewychewy - 3/5/2007 9:29:51 PMView My AgentSpace
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Ford Motor Co. today confirmed plans to bring the next-generation Ford Fiesta subcompact car to North America as part of a plan to move toward greater communization of products on both sides of the Atlantic.

The current generation Fiesta is pictured.

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jon21jon21 - 3/6/2007 8:07:03 AM
+1 BoostDrop the Boost Up the Boost
¡Permita el partido!

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trd1trd1 - 3/6/2007 5:34:39 PM
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what they mixed a Ford 500 and a focus and got this.

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S4cabriofoxoneS4cabriofoxone - 3/6/2007 9:50:18 PMView My AgentSpace
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It's been on sale for years.


jt716jt716 - 3/6/2007 9:32:30 PMView My AgentSpace
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Its a great car. I dont know what all the useless and pathetic jokes for when the car is actually good. It definitely better then the chevy spark, useless hummer and the smart car.

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Westside7thWestside7th - 3/6/2007 11:47:44 PM
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Some of you guys are so stupid. Do you even know what a B-car is? How can you say this looks anything like the 500? This car is smaller than a Focus. It's been selling extremely well overseas for years. It will be competing againt the Yaris, Aveo, Fit, etc. in the U.S. Some of you guys bash things when you know nothing about them.

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