Ford and Small Cars

Ford Motor Company announced it will accelerate its plans to transform itself into a maker of smaller and more fuel-efficient cars, changing both its North American manufacturing plans and its lineup of vehicles available in the United States. In terms of North American manufacturing, the company will convert three existing truck and sport utility vehicle (SUV) plants for small car production, with the first small car conversion starting in December at its Michigan Truck Plant. In addition, Ford's assembly plants near Mexico City, Mexico, and in Louisville, Kentucky, will convert from pickups and SUVs to small cars, including the Ford Fiesta, by 2011. Ford will also introduce to North America six of its European small vehicles, including two versions of the Ford Fiesta, by the end of 2012. And last but not least, Ford is stepping up its production of fuel-efficient "EcoBoost" V-6 and four-cylinder engines, while increasing its production of hybrid small vehicles.

Given Ford's new emphasis on its European small vehicles, a virtual trip to the British International Motor Show in London is in order. Ford is displaying five small models of its all-new Fiesta at the auto show, which opened to the public on July 23. Among the models on display is the world debut of Ford's "ECOnetic" version of the Ford Fiesta, which combines more aerodynamic styling, a lowered suspension, low-rolling-resistance tires, low-friction oil, and a specially tuned, turbocharged, direct-injection diesel engine. As a result, it achieves 63.6 miles per US gallon (3.70 L/100 km; 76.4 mpg-imp) on the European combined test cycle, which generally yields higher fuel economy numbers than the U.S. test methods (note also that the U.K. gallon is about 20% larger than the U.S. gallon, so we've adjusted these numbers accordingly). The standard diesel version of the Fiesta achieves 52.3 mpg, while diesel versions of the European Ford Focus achieve 52.3 mpg for most body styles and 54.7 mpg for the ECOnetic model. Of course, the United States has stricter emissions rules than in Europe, so it may not be possible for Ford to offer similar models in the United States.[citation needed]

Ford has challenged University teams to create a vehicle that is simple, durable, lightweight and come equipped with a base target price of only $7,000 The students from Aachen University created the "2015 Ford Model T".