[AKSarkar1]

Thank you for penning down this beautiful thread, I am sure it will be appreciated by all affectionados on this forum.

Ford truly was a special company for India, they have given absolute gems when it comes to motoring in India. Everytime I come across such a thread I can't help but imagine the future products that Ford could have given us had it not been for the India exit.

The Fiesta too has given Indian petrolheads (or dieselheads? ) a taste of what a driver-centric car is. The Fiesta IMHO is definitely in the hall of fame of the greatest Indian's driver cars.

[bullitt1]

Fantastic information and nostalgic as well. My first car was Ikon 1.6, upgraded to Fiesta 1.6. Both were pre owned, though hunted a lot for 1.6s, never could get hands on good car. Had a lot of memorable drives in Fiesta particularly to Leh. There are many faster cars today but handling and steering are two things that Fords always got right.

Remember reading a review in TopGear India, that "if ever BMW decides to mass produce a car, they can use Fiesta as starting point".

[anandavinash]

The Fiesta was without a doubt a great car to drive! I've had the pleasure of taking it out on a couple of trips from Bengaluru between 2007 and 2009. My uncle used to own one and coming from Mumbai (and driving a Petrol Honda City and Maruti Zen) the Diesel Engine powering the Fiesta was a real refreshing change. Pity Ford may only be left in India as a memory.

Seen below is the Fiesta at Wayanad sometime around February 2009.

[Ojas]

I picked my SXi in 2010 with very little research, and oh boy, it turned out to be one of the best decisions I ever made. Such a fantastic driver's car! 1.2L km in a decade and counting.

[ColAjayDrives]

I had the pleasure of owing a Wine Red Ford Fiesta 1.6 from 2009 to 2011.
I drove that beauty from Hyderabad to Indore and back three times.
Roads were not great those days and RSA was also non-existant then. I carried my tool box as always, but never did it give me a single oppportunity to use the tool box.
Excellent ride quality and a darling of the family, we parted ways in 2011.

Nice write up above, Shrey!

[Wolfconsole]

Awesome thread. Was just glued to it on Monday morning keeping everything else aside As a global Fiesta owner, the car is extremely close to my heart, and I am one of those unreasonable ones who put their heart before their head when it came time to upgrade from my Wagon R in 2014. I was interested in the global Fiesta from 2011 itself, but the 2014 facelift with its Aston-inspired looks just nailed it for me. By then, as described in the OP, the Fiesta was a flop in the Indian market. Several friends tried to talk me out of the purchase citing (and rightfully so), poor resale and expensive maintenance, but I was never a logical person.

Now more than 7 years later, I do not regret my decision one bit. After driving this car, am just not interested in upgrading as I know that almost no contemporary car can provide the kind of driving dynamics that I am used to now. I fully intend to keep this car for another 3-4 years, at which point spares will get even more difficult to find and I will eventually have to jump ship. However, that's a long time away and I am looking forward to many more happy miles before that.

[Balajiriyer]

Originally Posted by Shreyfiesta

Second-gen Figo and Aspire had some big shoes to fill as the first generation model was a massive success for Ford India.

Hey! I was riveted on the golden bronze Ford Fiesta image you posted above..gave her up November last year..when Ford announced closure, maintaining a Ford is a labour of love with spares and good service being expensive and not easy to get...hopefully Ford India will rethink India market plans...I believe they are toying with electric car definitely!

Mod Note - Please quote only releavent portion.

[Sebzgeo89]

Nice thread. I own a 2014 Global Fiesta and it’s been a blissful 7 years of driving this gem of a car. When the buying decision came, as expected senior members of the family cited low resale and high maintenance for Ford vehicles. This was my first brand new car and went ahead with the purchase. I believe the resale will be lower, but in terms of reliability, service costs etc I never had anything to complain. Now at 80K on the odo, I plan to keep it till the 10yr mark. I would have kept it longer if Ford hadn’t packed up.

[skb1811]

Very good read, as, my dad's actually considering getting a 2008 1.4 TDCi fiesta as a daily runner. (Its run 160k kms)
One of my cousins also had a 1.4 tdci, have driven it and boy did it drive well.
Looks wise as well, the proportions are very good and doesn't look awkward or weird from any angle.
Thank you for making this, it's got a LOT of information, some of which I did not know of.

[lamborghini]

Brilliant thread!

We've (dad & I) been Ford Loyalists since about 2000, when we picked up an Ikon 1.6 which was absolutely brilliant - hence, we ended up with one more in 2001.
The engine was a gem, there was actual legspace on offer, and the car handled like nothing else! I didn't have a license when we got these cars homes, but interestingly the green Ikon made it's way back to us for a short period of time as if to make up for lost time.

Similarly, in 2006 when it was time to switch, we brought home the Fiesta TDCi.
This is the car I officially learnt to drive on. With 98K on the odo before we sold it, it officially was (and still is) the highest we've ever held on to a car.

Even the Mondeo was simply brilliant! We came close to picking one up in 2004 when the refreshed Mondeo CKD was launched, but that spot was won by another European brand.

We wished Ford launched the Focus here, with a competent diesel automatic power train - a perfect upgrade from the Fiesta, but unfortunately that was not the case and we ended up with the Laura to fill that void.
That being said, the one drive in the then new Fiesta was enough to bowl me over completely - enough grunt, easy to drive, with a brilliant steering & ride + handling combination!
Despite getting the faster, more loaded, better built Laura - the Fiesta test drive still had me up at night wondering if there was anyway of bringing the Fiesta home.

[nairanupg]

Rated this 5 star with a lump in my throat and a tear or two in my eyes.

My Fiesta 1.6, the first car bought of my hard earned money. The first Sedan in my family, the first car i got into an accident in and came out unscathed while the drunk kid in the santro had his car mangled and foot broken.

It stayed with me for 3.5 years and more than 2.5 lakh kms ful filling my travel lust, taking me from mumbai to Leh Ladakh, Spiti, Gokarna, Kerala, Orissa and Goa multiple times, never once giving me a cause to complain before i had to sell it off when i left India. With the Fiesta, Ford took the Indian market a few generation ahead and i was shocked when they decided to leave this country.

I still dream of you, my pretty. The smooth gear shift, the steering which was an extension of my arms, the way you danced around corners and laughed on the highways.
Never found anyone like you ever.

You are the reason for the Figo my brother drove for almost 1 lakh KMs and parted ways with only last year. You are the reason why a typical South Indian middle class family is a Ford Loyalist, you are the reason why I searched frantically for a preowned endeavour for an year even though I was convinced about the new Safari.
"Smilestone Sedan" for sure, They dnt make it like you any more. No they dont.

[Amsdoc]

What a lovely tribute thread to the Fiesta! great job! Very informative too. I used to think that the Ikon came after the original Fiesta.
Speaking of which..it was my first car when I returned to India after more than a decade in the UK. Had great experience with the Fords there, so the Fiesta 1.6 was a logical choice. It was an excellent car. Very planted and a great and effortless driving experience. The gearbox and steering was a pleasure. The only thing I thought it lacked at the time was some proper sound insulation. It used to get very loud on the highways with regards to road noise. But apart from that it was a dream!
Thanks for this thread. Brought back fond memories!

[avira_tk]

The timing of this thread couldn't be better, we are finally moving away from a Ford to a Honda after 15 years.

The 2006 diesel was a great car, phenomenal economy mixed with good driving dynamics. You could drive to Kerala from Bangalore at a lower cost than a Volvo bus ticket, if there were 2 people. The car started giving trouble only after we had to use a Jeep trail for a year during road repairs, most owners in the area drove theirs nearly 1.5 lakh kms before selling them.

The 2011 Fiesta was an improvement in nearly every way over the 2006. It was a part of the one Ford program and while it was expensive compared to the competition, the quality shows through with time. Ford really perfected the electronic power steering, finger light at parking speed and weighing up beautifully at higher speeds. The diesel was super refined and economical, too bad we have to sell it as Ford has packed up.

[NotanF1driver]

Yes. We too had one - ZXI Diesel. The first sedan at home, and one of the most loved car. I still don’t know how I managed to convinced my not so car enthusiast dad to buy this one. Myself and my brother even convinced him to install aftermarket alloys on it. Looked so good, even by today’s standards. We used it for 7 years, after which dad moved to AT’s.

It is one of my favourite cars, and when I nought a car with my own money, I wanted to revive the Fiesta days. So I bought a Figo diesel.

Sharing some pics. Sorry for bad quality, I had to screen shot some of them from my FB page.

[tharian]

A very elaborate tribute to a truly underrated car in the Indian market.

It has two of my all time favorite cars- the Fiesta 1.6S and the facelifted global Fiesta. Both of which I missed purchasing because of budget constraints.
Some fun of it was got back in the form of the Figo 1.2 which I had for close to 7 years and now the Aspire S.

The thing with Ford is that the driver feels one with the car and it is hard to explain that feeling to another person who looks at Ford as an expensive car to maintain especially when you have equal or better competition to choose from.

Sadly, with the new Figo and Aspire, that was lost to an extent, but not fully when compared to non-Ford equivalent cars.

Good to see pictures of these cars on this thread, still looking hot among the newer generation cars.