Ford’s small car darling, Fiesta, has been making giant size inroads into the competitive light vehicle segment during 2006.

“Fiesta sales are up approximately 80 units per month on average compared with last year,” said President of Ford Australia, Tom Gorman.

“It has a well deserved reputation for European styling, German engineering and outstanding driving dynamics.

“These three attributes contribute to the undeniable appeal of Fiesta. It really is a small car that offers large car qualities.”

The model range includes the three or five door Fiesta LX, the sports enhanced three door Zetec and the luxuriously appointed five door Ghia.

Launched earlier this year, the 2006 model includes exterior changes to bumpers and grille, revised headlamps, rear lamps, thicker body side mouldings, body coloured handles and mirrors on selected models.

A selection of modern seat fabrics and fascia colour combinations gives the interior an exciting, trendy feel.

All three models in the Fiesta line up come standard with a 1.6 litre Duratec 16 valve all-alloy engine, which develops 74 kW at 6000 rpm and peak torque of 146 Nm at 4000 rpm.

ABS with EBD (Electronic Brakeforce Distribution) is standard equipment on automatic LX, Zetec and Ghia, and is available as an option on manual transmission LX models.

The sportiest Fiesta model, the Zetec, comes standard with 16-inch alloy wheels, enhanced gear ratios in the manual transmission and sports suspension.

The sports suspension system delivers a more precise steering feel as well as providing sharper handling characteristics.
 
“This list of features has further enhanced Fiesta’s already impressive reputation for superior driving dynamics, which are a hallmark of the entire Ford vehicle range,” said Mr Gorman.

Features such as air-conditioning are standard across the range, and side and curtain airbags are available as an option on Ghia. Manual transmission Fiestas are fitted with a convenient input facility for an iPod® or MP3 player.