[SleepyJack]

There's a lot of car talk between my mother and I, and yesterday the B-Segment in general came up. She mentioned that the only thing she was worried about was the connotation with the old Fiesta, and that the only mistake she thinks they made was deciding to keep the Fiesta name. (Mind you all, this is the same woman who cringed at the thought of Saturn selling rebadged Opel's)

It's odd, because I think a lot of modern car people (especially small Ford enthusiasts) have this special place in their heart for the early Fiesta's that just doesn't exist in most 40+ year old non-car people's hearts. It kind of begs the question:

Despite younger buyers and car-folks/Ford Fans being stoked about the Fiesta, does anyone think the Fiesta (despite the Euro rep and high quality) might be a hard sell to some of the more "experienced" IJAC (it's just a car) people than a new car with a new name? (For instance, the Honda Fit has no connotations, whereas the Fiesta has that "Old Cheapo" connotation)

Thoughts?

 

[Mark Kleis]

I think it is a very valid point, and I do think there will be some initial and then minor residual negative connotation for that reason. Most people will put a negative connotation with the car because of the blue oval on the front, though.

That brings me to a good counter point- Ford has a proven track record in Europe and gets more respect there (all the US Ford haters whine that Europe gets the "good Fords"), but now we will have a European Fiesta... and by keeping the name, we can say, "Hey, the Fiesta is a legend in Europe, the #2 selling car in ALL of Europe, and gets serious respect." That's my plan on a counter-point, at least.

 

[SleepyJack]

I think it is a very valid point, and I do think there will be some initial and then minor residual negative connotation for that reason. Most people will put a negative connotation with the car because of the blue oval on the front, though.

That brings me to a good counter point- Ford has a proven track record in Europe and gets more respect there (all the US Ford haters whine that Europe gets the "good Fords"), but now we will have a European Fiesta... and by keeping the name, we can say, "Hey, the Fiesta is a legend in Europe, the #2 selling car in ALL of Europe, and gets serious respect." That's my plan on a counter-point, at least.

Hopefully that ends up being the case.

 

[blueginx197]

There is a booming B segment car section... I see quite a few Yaris, Fits, and Aveo's around... I think that the Fiesta is going to be a good competitor. If people are buying the new Fit and Yaris, I think the Fiesta with its Kinetic design (I think thats what they call it, lol) will have no problem being a big seller.

 

[OmniFocus]

I don't see the correlation myself.... EVERY compact car sold from 78-80 was of similar configuration and quality.

Volkswagen sells a "Rabbit" now that really has nothing in common with the Rabbit it was selling then.

The new Fiesta might be a nice car, but it is playing in a field of inexpensive cars... the name has no bearing on that.

Basically, the bottom-feeders of today are so far above and beyond the bottom-feeders of 30 years ago. MANY brands have carried the same nameplate from then until now with no adverse effects.

Have you ever compared a 1978 Toyota Corolla to a 2009 Toyota Corolla?

 

[IFHP]

I'm kind of old school, but I like the Fiesta name --it has heritage and "brand equity" in other parts of the world. I think that Mulaly said that he wants Ford models to be recognized world-wide. Building on 30 years of brand equity does just that.

Michael

 

[khaoz187]

there might be some adverse thoughts about the fiesta until they see it. take it from someone who had that reaction then i saw the car and fell in love with the way it looks

 

[Zinky]

My friends & I, had positive feelings about the Fiesta when it was first sold in the US. In high school one of the guys could do some amazing handling stunts that just couldn't be done in the typical US car (many US cars did not have hand brakes). My first car was a used Fiesta that I drove all over the Midwest and couldn't complain about.

In some ways the car might have benefited by not having been sold during the years when all small cars were thought of poorly. In some ways its like starting from scratch because even if you remember the old ones, there aren't too many of them on the road for the casual person to remember them or their faults.

 

[Corvair]

Being somewhat less young than a lot of people here, the old Fiestas' were much smaller than the current. Real basic. Cheap. A real bottom feeder. A bicycle had more luxury features. Power windows, no, leather, no, but very cheap vinyl. Durable, I think they were good. I think the radio was an extra cost option. Sound quality, none, but the car was so noisy, so it didn't matter. I'm surprised they used the Fiesta name for the U.S. market. Honda uses the "Fit" name for the U.S., I think it is "Jazz" elsewhere.

You can sell an old man a young man's car, but you can't sell a young man, and old mans car! My Dad who is 88, has a Focus hatch! Anyone consider a Buick?

Dan
65 Corvair Monza
11 Fiesta, soon, I hope. Shipped.

 

[Zinky]

Weren't all cars much more basic, smaller and lighter 30 years ago? As a comparison, the Fiesta was a step up from the Subaru my parents had (no carpet, vinyl floor in addition to the vinyl seats, trunk lined with hardboard, single speaker AM radio). I guess it didn't take much.

 

[AlanBDahl]

Judging from the number of ads on Craigslist calling Festivas a "Fiesta" (at least 50% of the ads I see it seems like) I suspect that for most of America Fiesta=Festiva and that could be the source of a lot of that negative view. I'm willing to bet that if you asked 100 people a significant number of them would have something negative to say about the "Fiesta" but if you actually showed them a picture of a Mark 1 they wouldn't know what it was. Thankfully if the new car is good the old memories would soon fade.

 

[FiestaFan]

I've been thinking about the Fiesta/Festiva confusion as well. What's odd is that I haven't heard many bad things about Festivas - they're basic transportation, yes, but they're apparently very durable and can go hundreds of thousands of miles with basic maintenance. Still, I think there's an "American small car" stigma...people expect American small cars to be crap and Asian small cars to be good, but that's increasingly not the case anymore.