2018 Ford Fiesta Review – Video

The current Ford Fiesta may have had a relatively short history in the United States, but in Europe it has been one of Ford’s most important products for decades. For the past four years, it has been the bestselling small car in Europe, and now a new, seventh-generation Fiesta (only the first- and sixth-generation versions have been sold in the U.S.) is here to keep the good times rolling. Given how much the outgoing European Fiesta shares with its North American equivalent, we don’t expect much to change before this next-gen model arrives here sometime next year.

The interior improvements are more dramatic, as the dashboard presents a much more appealing and modern interface than the current Fiesta’s low-rent maze of buttons. An 8.0-inch touchscreen (which we assume is optional) sprouts from the center stack and uses Ford’s Sync 3 software; volume and tuning knobs, along with a few other audio buttons, are below. Rear-seat room is supposedly expanded, and the rear hatch offers a larger opening than before.

 

 

At this point, details are only available on three engine choices: 1.0- and 1.1-liter three-cylinder gasoline engines and a 1.5-liter four-cylinder turbo-diesel. The 1.0-liter EcoBoost three-cylinder is the most likely of these to reach the U.S., given that the current Fiesta already offers a similar engine here. The updated 1.0-liter turbo-three delivers up to 138 horsepower (15 more than the current U.S.-spec engine) and pairs with a six-speed manual or six-speed automatic transmission. Expect Ford also to offer a naturally aspirated four-cylinder engine in the U.S., possibly a version of the current Fiesta’s standard 1.6-liter four-cylinder.