Fiesta Econetic dropped

Bossxr8 · 03-02-2012, 08:18 PM

http://www.goauto.com.au/mellor/mell...2579980022B6BD

I can see why they did this, only 20 sales a month, but losing the claim that Ford has the most fuel efficient car you can buy is a bit of a loss. Although it would have been toppled by the end of the year anyway.

**DFB FGXR6** · 03-02-2012, 08:21 PM

Its official. Ford have LOST THE PLOT. 20 sales a month sure, but the advertising potential was worth so much more (if they bothered to in the first place.)

I also note the discontinued the Transit "Econetic" as well.

Bossxr8 · 03-02-2012, 08:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DFB FGXR6

Its official. Ford have LOST THE PLOT. 20 sales a month sure, but the advertising potential was worth so much more (if they bothered to in the first place.)

I also note the discontinued the Transit "Econetic" as well.

I wouldn't go that far. A couple of months time new Prius would have taken the title anyway, and the extra hassle of importing them from Europe when the rest of the range comes from Thailand would be a pain.

**DFB FGXR6** · 03-02-2012, 08:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bossxr8

the extra hassle of importing them from Europe when the rest of the range comes from Thailand would be a pain.

I just thought of that

Importing the same car from two plants would've been the main reason. I could never understand why Ford didnt keep up the advertising for this car. They had a major milestone with this car.The cheapest and most fuel efficient of all the "eco cars" on the market and they didnt use it to their advantage.

falconnut · 03-02-2012, 08:33 PM

Manual Transmission only is ridiculous, no wonder it didnt sell well.

Why not put a decent automatic transmission as a option as well.

Rodge · 03-02-2012, 08:37 PM

[QUOTE]

Quote:

Originally Posted by falconnut

Manual Transmission only is ridiculous, no wonder it didnt sell well.

Why not put a decent automatic transmission as a option as well.[/QUOTE]

Give that man a beer. The answer why they didn't sell well, is right there. The vast majority or buyers want automatic cars more especially so for small city cars.

jpd80 · 03-02-2012, 08:59 PM

The difference in fuel economy between the regular diesel Fiesta and the Econetic wasn't worth the effort.
Perhaps if our fuel was around $2.20 a litre, then maybe this car would have had more impact...

mik · 03-02-2012, 09:03 PM

yes it is a shame , but perhaps they have something better in the pipeline !

XR Martin · 03-02-2012, 09:08 PM

Fiesta Ecoboost please. Enough of this diesel rubbish

Nic85 · 04-02-2012, 01:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by XR6 Martin

Fiesta Ecoboost please. Enough of this diesel rubbish

Spoken like someone with no diesel car driving experience. Of all the engines in cars I've owned, the current diesel takes the cake. The massive amounts of low down torque and the flat torque curve make them a real pleasure to drive, and then you win some more when it comes time to fuel up after you've done over 1,000kms to your 60L of diesel.

prydey · 06-02-2012, 08:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nic85

Spoken like someone with no diesel car driving experience.

on paper, the ecoboost engines will go very close to giving you that 'diesel' experience. probably better it.

falconnut · 03-02-2012, 09:17 PM

What about a EV Fiesta?

RASER · 04-02-2012, 11:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bossxr8

http://www.goauto.com.au/mellor/mell...2579980022B6BD

losing the claim that Ford has the most fuel efficient car you can buy is a bit of a loss. Although it would have been toppled by the end of the year anyway.

I think this vehicle suffered for 3 reasons.

1. No auto-tranny.

2. Silly priced

3. The MUCH cheaper ULP version was not a fuel guzzler

The Focus Eco might make a guest-appearance?

Yellow_Festiva · 04-02-2012, 12:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RASER

I think this vehicle suffered for 3 reasons.

1. No auto-tranny.

2. Silly priced

3. The MUCH cheaper ULP version was not a fuel guzzler

The Focus Eco might make a guest-appearance?

Exactly. The crux of the ECOnetic was a high tech engine option and some body mods to reduce weight and drag.

Give it a price that would justify the changes with the option of an auto and the ECOnetic would still be in the lineup today.

The person who made these decisions when launching the ECOnetic here should be shot.

I found this sales quote from Dec 2009:

Quote:

Ford Australia President and CEO Marin Burela told CarAdvice the development of the Fiesta Econetic, which has been on sale in Europe for some time, was heavily supported by Ford Australia. The eco-friendly Fiesta has so far sold to over 60,000 buyers in Europe, despite having an initial target of around 2-3,000.

I bet it wasn't sold at such a premium in Europe as it was here.... And Europe has a plethora of small, frugal cars that use well under 4L per 100 already.

Bossxr8 · 04-02-2012, 10:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yellow_Festiva

Exactly. The crux of the ECOnetic was a high tech engine option and some body mods to reduce weight and drag.

Give it a price that would justify the changes with the option of an auto and the ECOnetic would still be in the lineup today.

The person who made these decisions when launching the ECOnetic here should be shot.

I found this sales quote from Dec 2009:

I bet it wasn't sold at such a premium in Europe as it was here.... And Europe has a plethora of small, frugal cars that use well under 4L per 100 already.

Small manual diesel's are massively popular in Europe though, especially with the high cost of fuel there. Exact opposite to Australia.

Another point is that they still have the regular Fiesta diesel that only uses slightly more fuel, and its cheaper, and comes from Thailand like all the other Fiesta's.

Yellow_Festiva · 04-02-2012, 10:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bossxr8

Small manual diesel's are massively popular in Europe though, especially with the high cost of fuel there. Exact opposite to Australia.

Another point is that they still have the regular Fiesta diesel that only uses slightly more fuel, and its cheaper, and comes from Thailand like all the other Fiesta's.

Yes, which was my point. Why introduce a car to a market with a transmission that goes against what is favoured at a price point that places it in the middle to upper bracket of the next size up car???

They sold well in Europe because they were built, priced and targeted correctly to the market. The Fiesta ECOnetic was not, therefore doomed from the very beginning.

Same thing happened when Proton tried to sell the Gen2 for just under 30K... who were they kidding? Lotus tuned handling was great... they were stupid to think that buyers would be lining up to buy a car the size of a Corolla that didn't even have a glove box.

aussie muscle · 06-02-2012, 09:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bossxr8

Small manual diesel's are massively popular in Europe though, especially with the high cost of fuel there. Exact opposite to Australia..

how does the price of diesel compare to petrol over there? is it more expensive than R95 like it is here?

Bossxr8 · 06-02-2012, 08:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aussie muscle

how does the price of diesel compare to petrol over there? is it more expensive than R95 like it is here?

Diesel is cheaper, but because fuel is so expensive over there they buy the most economical cars they can get because the cost of a tank is so high.

They are paying over $2 a litre I think.

XR Martin · 04-02-2012, 06:39 PM

Ive driven plenty of diesel vehicles and I just dont like them. No aural pleasure, small power band, filthy pumps, alot more weight over the fron wheels etc.
Sure you might smile when you have to pay for fuel, but do you smile when you give your soot chucker a bootful in a tunnel?

Nic85 · 04-02-2012, 06:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by XR6 Martin

Ive driven plenty of diesel vehicles and I just dont like them. No aural pleasure, small power band, filthy pumps, alot more weight over the fron wheels etc.
Sure you might smile when you have to pay for fuel, but do you smile when you give your soot chucker a bootful in a tunnel?

I realise you're trolling for the sake of trolling, but I mean, modern soot chuckers don't sound like old school diesel engines at all. When you give our diesel a boot full you just get the aural delight of intake noise, followed by that beautiful turbo whistle. Usable power band in my sisters Territory is from about 3,000rpm - 5,000rpm. Most diesels will have usable torque from 1,200rpm - 4,500rpm.

I actually don't drive through any tunnels to get to work.

burnz · 04-02-2012, 07:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by XR6 Martin

Ive driven plenty of diesel vehicles and I just dont like them. No aural pleasure, small power band, filthy pumps, alot more weight over the fron wheels etc.
Sure you might smile when you have to pay for fuel, but do you smile when you give your soot chucker a bootful in a tunnel?

and yet a diesel 2.0 will spank your XR6, but no pleasure in that.

Franco Cozzo · 04-02-2012, 09:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by XR6 Martin

Ive driven plenty of diesel vehicles and I just dont like them. No aural pleasure, small power band, filthy pumps, alot more weight over the fron wheels etc.
Sure you might smile when you have to pay for fuel, but do you smile when you give your soot chucker a bootful in a tunnel?

I've got a TDCI Focus and daily driving duties it beats the pants off my WS Fiesta that I had, 20KW more power and more than twice the torque, the torque is great.

Unfortunately I think you are correct with the handling with the weight over the front wheels, my Focus tends to understeer and body-roll badly if pushed hard into a corner, but I think its under-tyred as the Goodyear NCT5s are crap plus being an all cast iron engine doesn't help either.

The Fiesta handles like a go-kart though, Continental tyres as factory fitment, low, weighs 1080kg so you can throw it into any corner and she just sticks to the road.

XR Martin · 04-02-2012, 07:03 PM

Anything would beat my XR6 at the moment, as its in pieces.
It would have to be a pretty flash 2L TD to beat my XR8 though.

Nic85 · 05-02-2012, 08:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by XR6 Martin

Anything would beat my XR6 at the moment, as its in pieces.
It would have to be a pretty flash 2L TD to beat my XR8 though.

I dunno about that.

. If your XR8 is stock, the autos did 0-100km/h in about 8 seconds. Same pace as a diesel Hyundai ix35.

XR Martin · 06-02-2012, 08:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nic85

I dunno about that.

. If your XR8 is stock, the autos did 0-100km/h in about 8 seconds. Same pace as a diesel Hyundai ix35.

If we are quoting car mag times, an ix35 TD does 0-100 in 9.7sec. ABout the same as a 3speed Auto EA

Danny · 06-02-2012, 10:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by XR6 Martin

It would have to be a pretty flash 2L TD to beat my XR8 though.

What did you do to your 4speed EL XR8 to make it that quick?

TD is not rubbish.

jpd80 · 06-02-2012, 10:49 PM

1.0 I-3 Ecoboost has been revealed in European Fiesta with 4.8 l/100 km,
I think that would be a way more successful move than Econetic diesel.

Yellow_Festiva · 06-02-2012, 11:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jpd80

1.0 I-3 Ecoboost has been revealed in European Fiesta with 4.8 l/100 km,
I think that would be a way more successful move than Econetic diesel.

The Diesel had a consumption figure of 3.2L per 100 on the freeway. If I behave behind the wheel I can get my Focus diesel to sit on around 4.8-5 per 100.

What will dictate how well it sells is at what price point it sells at and if there is an auto box. If it becomes the new base model then great. If it becomes the new Green Hero car like the ECO and retails for 9K above the base model they can forget about it.

Is that 4.8l city, hwy or combined? if it is city or combined it is a great figure.

There could have been so much marketing potential with the ECOnetic ... drop the 1.6 for a 1.4 Diesel and it would have probably been a true sub 3L per 100 car.

Oh well.....

jpd80 · 06-02-2012, 11:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yellow_Festiva

The Diesel had a consumption figure of 3.2L per 100 on the freeway. If I behave behind the wheel I can get my Focus diesel to sit on around 4.8-5 per 100.

What will dictate how well it sells is at what price point it sells at and if there is an auto box. If it becomes the new base model then great. If it becomes the new Green Hero car like the ECO and retails for 9K above the base model they can forget about it.

Is that 4.8l city, hwy or combined? if it is city or combined it is a great figure.

There could have been so much marketing potential with the ECOnetic ... drop the 1.6 for a 1.4 Diesel and it would have probably been a true sub 3L per 100 car.

Oh well.....

That 4.8 l/100 km figure is combined, the combined on the 1.3 EB in Focus is 5.0 l/100 km.

I would expect the extra urban figures to be in the low 4s, maybe high 3s
nah, that high 3s is a bit hopeful considering diesel extra urban is 3.9....

LeadFoot81 · 04-02-2012, 09:35 PM

Once the Diesel engine became available in the WT Zetec, the low rent Econetic was always going to be a hard sell.