FORD are set to produce a new range of smaller and more affordable electric cars that could replace the Fiesta and the soon-to-be-discontinued Focus.
The car giant, who recently revealed the new, all-electric Capri model, are said to be working on a new platform that could see them build a host of new EVs.
According Autocar, the new programme is in its ‘engineering stages’ but could see the brand offer electric motors that run below the Explorer, Mustang Mach-E and the new Capri in its electric car hierarchy.
Last year, Ford pulled the evergreen Fiesta from production after 47 years and seven generations, and quietly announced the Focus would suffer the same fate by mid-2025.
Currently, Ford’s Puma crossover has proven to be a replacement of sorts for the Fiesta and was their best selling motor in the UK in 2021 and 2023.
But looking to the future, the Blue Oval want to make new, small EVs that will presumably be their entry-level model.
Marin Gjaja, Ford‘s chief operating officer of their Model E division, said: “We are spending a decent amount of time at the corporate level talking about affordability.
“We know we need to do it and it’s a muscle we need to build up over time.
“If you look at our line-up globally, at this point we don’t really have much in the affordable segment.
“The key for us is to be affordable, differentiated and profitable.
“For too long we stayed in the affordable segment, either at break-even or losing money.”
Gjaja adds that Ford are dealing with the challenges of offering affordable EVs to regular customers and battling with the low-cost options that can be produced by Chinese brands.
He said: “The question is: how do you compete in that segment, especially if you have got a very low-cost manufacturing location like China pumping out affordable vehicles?
“That’s the dilemma. There’s no question that if we’re going to be a true mass brand, we want people to graduate to a vehicle like Explorer, but where do you start them?
“That’s what we’re doing in the US with an affordable platform, and there’s no reason why that platform wouldn’t be able to create products for Europe as well.”
Gjaja added that the first car to be based on the new platform will arrive in “late 2026 or early 2027” and will be launched in the US first.
At present, the Puma is Ford’s smallest and most affordable motor at £25,650 – and it also comes as a hybrid with an all-electric Puma Gen-E to arrive later in 2024.
But the Blue Oval have failed to directly replace the affordable Fiesta, with drivers turning to small hatchbacks from other brands such as Dacia’s Sandero, MG‘s 3 and Kia‘s Picanto.
The Ford Fiesta is the UK’s all-time best selling car and, despite being axed by the Blue Oval in June last year after a 47-year run, it remains a hot second-hand favourite with drivers.
Ford sold 4.8 million units in that near 50-year production run, and saw the model claim the title of the most popular car in the UK for 12 consecutive years between 2009 and 2020.
The Fiesta was developed in response to the 1973 oil crisis, which saw the price of fuel skyrocket and Brit motorists needing a more economically efficient car.
Since it was launched in 1976, more than 22 million Fiestas have been sold around the world. Of those, 4.8 million were in the UK.
Its final iteration, released in 2017, was the seventh generation Fiesta and notably larger, roomier, safer and more efficient.
A 2013 poll by The Sun found the Fiesta was the most popular car to have sex in, said The Sun.
Gjaja did hint that small EV models are seemingly on Ford’s horizon, adding: “Our sense is the uptake on electric vehicles will be more smaller vehicles over time.
“That’s where you will see the most acceleration because that’s the group that’s going to be most sensitive to fuel costs – because the more affordable the vehicle, typically, the more the driver is focused on cost.
“And they don’t have as much emotion associated with the size of the vehicle or how luxurious it is.”
Ford’s newest model, the updated Capri with a starting price of £48,075, was finally unveiled last month and was seen in action for the very first time at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.
Elsewhere, Wheeler Dealers’ host Mike Brewer recently spoke about the Fiesta and how a certain iteration of the popular hatchback could one day be a future classic.
