· Dynamic new Ford Fiesta features large-car quality in a small car as engineers deliver benchmark design, craftsmanship and ergonomics
· Design includes power-dome bonnet, laser-cut headlamps with LED daytime running lamps and vibrant new exterior colours
· New Emergency Assist function welcomed by AA
The new Ford Fiesta delivers large car quality in a small car and is designed to exceed the highest expectations of customers downsizing from larger vehicles.
The stylish new Fiesta meets the global trend for downsizing by setting a new quality benchmark with a dynamic exterior and a harmonious and ergonomic interior offering new and enhanced features.
“The new Fiesta takes craftsmanship and ergonomics to the next level in the small-car segment, and will shift customer perceptions of what a small car should deliver.” said Ernst Reim, chief interior designer, Ford of Europe.
The new Fiesta face is dominated by a trapezoidal front grille, and bracketed by laser-cut headlamps with daytime running lamps that use LED technology. It features a power-dome bonnet design and is offered with 17in alloy wheels. New Fiesta is available in a range of vibrant and dynamic colours, including new Copper Pulse, Hot Mustard and Candy Blue.
Ford has relocated electric window switches, heated seat switches and interior door handles in the new Fiesta. A full leather-rim steering wheel is offered for the first time and a new five inch central colour display supports the model’s first integrated navigation system.
The new Fiesta features a high-gloss finish for the upper instrument panel that flows to the lower centre console and is replicated in the door panels. A satin-chrome detailing finish is also offered along with Ford’s signature Ice Blue lighting to illuminate dials, switches and displays.
New seat fabrics and designs are offered with high-quality leather, partial leather, comfort fabric and sport fabric trims. Eye-catching new patterns and textures including highlighted stitching also add to the vibrant new interior ambience, while additional supporting bolsters improve comfort.
New Fiesta also offers new and improved storage features. A concealed load space is introduced beneath the boot which has an adjustable floor height to simplify loading and unloading heavy items; a new central arm-rest also provides additional storage; and door pockets are larger and more practical.
Multi-lingual SYNC Emergency Assistance helps tourists driving abroad
A Ford-commissioned survey shows 75 per cent of Europeans have travelled by car in countries where they would have been unable to make an emergency services call in the local language.*
Ford’s SYNC Emergency Assistance function offered on new Fiesta in Europe can alert local emergency services operators in 26 languages, spoken in 40 European regions – more than any rival technology.
“SYNC Emergency Assistance is activated in the event of a crash after which the occupants of the vehicle may be unconscious, injured or confused,” said Christof Kellerwessel, chief engineer, Electrical and Electronics System Engineering, Ford of Europe. “It might then be difficult to make an emergency services call in the occupant’s native tongue, let alone a second or even third language.”
SYNC Emergency Assistance, delivered as standard as part of Ford’s SYNC in-car connectivity system, uses information from the vehicle’s on-board GPS unit, map and mobile network to pinpoint accident location and choose the appropriate language in which to deliver a pre-recorded message.
It calls the pan-European 112 emergency number via an occupant’s Bluetooth-connected mobile phone. The system can even determine the correct language for countries where multiple languages are spoken, based on incident coordinates.
The activation of an airbag or the vehicle’s emergency fuel pump shut-off initiates the SYNC Emergency Assistance system to make the call after a brief window during which it can be cancelled if no assistance is required. The system enables direct hands-free communication between operator and occupants and can transfer the call to the mobile phone if, for example, the occupant exits the vehicle with the device.
The Ford-commissioned poll of more than 3,000 travellers* across Europe found that 75 per cent of those questioned had, in the past five years, either driven in or been a passenger in countries where they would not have been able to make an emergency call in the local language. This applied to 84 per cent of German respondents, 75 per cent from the U.K and Russia, 73 per cent from Italy and 72 per cent from France and Spain. Around 10 per cent said that they had also been involved in an accident at that time.
Edmund King, AA president, welcomed the feature: “We believe that Ford’s pioneering Emergency Assistance technology can help save lives. The AA would like to see ‘e-call’ as a safety feature on all new cars, as it helps notify the emergency services in that vital ‘golden hour’ after a serious crash when rapid medical attention can be the difference between life and death.”
* A survey of 3,165 people in Germany, the U.K, France, Russia, Italy and Spain was conducted on behalf of Ford of Europe by TNS in October 2012.
