End of the Fiesta! The American manufacturer Ford announced on Wednesday the end of production of the popular Fiesta, after almost 50 years of service, to focus on the development of electric cars.
“It’s time to say goodbye to the small car that has touched us all,” the European branch of the automotive group posted on Twitter about the Fiesta, currently manufactured in the German factory in Cologne.
The Cologne plant is undergoing a “deep restructuring with a view to becoming Ford’s electrical center of excellence in Europe”, commented a spokesperson for the group, confirming the exit from the stage of the popular city car.
Produced since 1976, the Fiesta has totaled 22 million sales during its long run.
A deep transformation
The Cologne plant will soon begin production of a new electric SUV model designed through a partnership with German giant Volkswagen, the spokesperson added. Ford will use the “MEB” electric platform developed by the German manufacturer, which makes it possible to adapt production lines to the construction of several different car models.
Ford is indeed engaged in the race towards the electric, an expensive technology which requires a complete modernization of the existing factories. With this in mind, the European factories are preparing for the reorganization of the activities of the group, which has already announced this summer the elimination of several thousand positions across the Atlantic and in India during the conversion of factories to electricity.
Ford already announced last June that it had chosen its Spanish factory to manufacture a future electric model, to the detriment of its West German factory in Saarlouis, threatening thousands of jobs. But the change in production at the Cologne site should not affect the number of jobs, according to German media Automobilwoche.