Made in Germany? NOT!

[Cespenar]

Come on guys? My daughter's 09 LX can't be the only new Fiesta NOT made in Germany!
Please check in the engine bay for the place of manufacture and post a reply.
I want to see what percentage are actually made in Germany.

The Ford Focus was touted as made in Germany, but most of them seem to have been made in Belgium, according to the under-bonnet stickers.

I'm not detracting from a great little car, but these sales gimmicks (lies) really peeve me off.
Please don't can a winge! Just post the country. Maybe there are a lot of different ones.

[Bucknaked]

Isn't the sales pitch "German Engineered"

[Fordman]

I'm pretty sure Focus is made in South Africa a bit aswell..

[vztrt]

I wouldn't really complain about the car coming from Belgium, that's a good plant.

It could be much worse...it could come from South Africa.

[Peuty]

Germs come from Germany.

[small_ford]

The Fiesta's VIN has a two letter code that will state the factory its made in. To my knowledge Fiestas are not built in Belgium, Ford's factory at Genk Belgium bulids Mondeos, S Max and Galaxy. If not built in Cologne, your Fiesta may have been built in Valencia, if you want to put your VIN on, I can tell you where it was built.

[greenfoam]

Are you talking about the Focus or Fiesta here? I think some Focus's are Belgian made, Belgians are good smart people, couldn't complain about that, same difference as German .

All the Australian Fiesta's are German made unless some are now comming from the Spanish plant? but that's the only other place one could come from

[dannyhilton]

Originally Posted by Cespenar

Come on guys? My daughter's 09 LX can't be the only new Fiesta NOT made in Germany? The Ford Focus was touted as made in Germany, but most of them seem to have been made in Belgium, according to the under-bonnet stickers. I'm not detracting from a great little car, but these sales gimmicks (lies) really peeve me off. Please don't can a winge! Just post the country. Maybe there are a lot of different ones.

For the record, I'm not having a "can a winge," just offering some info. With the demand on the Fiesta, both in Australia and Europe, I think you'll find our Fiestas are a mix of both European factories (Spain and Germany). Please correct me if I'm wrong, but the car is German Engineered, and as far as I can see that's been the extent of the link to Germany. I can't recall an advert, be it print, internet derived or on television claiming it was built in Germany, merely German Engineered. Although the current Focus comes from South Africa, bar the XR5, it's marketed as German Engineered, or Designed in Europe. This is marketing, every single other company does it. Do you think the badge 'Made in Spain' would be appealing to customers? used:

[Franco Cozzo]

So far "German Engineering" has made us hit the wipers instead of the indicator a few times haha.

[dannyhilton]

Correction, it does state in the early brochures that the Fiesta is 'Designed and built in Germany.' That's not really a lie, because it is. If we get some Spanish ones by fluke then even then it's not a lie because they don't state 'All Australian Fiestas come from Germany.' All I can say is call your Ford dealer, or better yet contact Ford and ask exactly where your car was made if your concerned about the matter. They never sent me a letter of thanks for buying my car but I got over that LOL. I'll get my revenge when I take it back to the dealer when it's broken or bits have fallen off, you should do the same!!!

[Bucknaked]

Originally Posted by XCPWSF

So far "German Engineering" has made us hit the wipers instead of the indicator a few times haha.

So true. My last 3 cars I bought, 2 have been Focus and 1 Mondeo. And I'm still not used to it. :

[greenfoam]

Must be a Spanish car he's talking about, not suprising I guess since the German factory couldn't keep up with demand. Better to have a Spanish built one right now rather than wait 6 months for German one that's been rushed out

Originally Posted by RapidTyphoon

Do you think the badge 'Made in Spain' would be appealing to customers? used:

If it's a girl the badge is on, definitely

[dannyhilton]

Originally Posted by greenfoam

Must be a Spanish car he's talking about, not suprising I guess since the German factory couldn't keep up with demand. If it's a girl the badge is on, definitely

HAHA! You have a good argument there. I think your spot on though, originally it was to be a German supplied car, but with the massive demand, no doubt we've got some Spanish examples floating about.

[Festy]

Does it even matter where they're screwed together any more?

Mine says "Ford Werke GMBH" next to the VIN so I guess that means its made in Germany (although it doesn't specifically say "Made in....). However, opening the bonnet and the first thing that hits you is the "Made in Czechoslovakia" stickers on the headlights.

Reminds me of a Holden Frontera I used to own. Made with body panels/chassis from Japan (Mostly Isuzu Rodeo) with a Bosch EFI from Germany. The parts for the motor (an Opel) were made in Germany, shipped to Australia for assembly, then shipped to England where the whole car was put together. Then the completed car was sent back to Australia.

With the amount of factory automation these days, product quality is more about the brand than the country of assembly.

[Cespenar]

Originally Posted by Bucknaked

Isn't the sales pitch "German Engineered"

The latest words are "The Econetic, like petrol Fiestas, will be sourced from Ford's plant in Cologne, Germany." In today's Sunday Telegraph.
Maybe some are, but some definitely wont be.
Greenfoam: Not Spanish. The Fiesta's plates state "Manuf. in Czech Republic."
Some may be from other countries as you mention. And I mean the Fiesta. Sorry about that.
Rapid Typhoon: Focus is brought into Aus from various places according to you guys.
small_ford: See above. It is plated from Czech Republic.
Bucknaked: I wonder what German engineered means. I feel that the designer/engineer does the engineering and the s/kicker does the building. During the week I read a piece on the Mazda 2. Apparently the new Fiesta and the Mazda 2 share some mechanicals. I wonder which bits that might be.
I would like one of the new diesel Fiestas. 3.7 Govt figure is better than the Prius.
Anybody want a '99 Fairmount Ghia? Excellent car, except for the paintwork, which looks good from a distance of about fiteen metres.
Yeah! Quality is what you remember, no matter where it is made. If I had the money, I'd buy a Fiesta right now, even though I don't know it's quality.

[Bucknaked]

I did a search earlier and came across on Carpoint an article on the fiesta. It says in there "Origins - Germany" I'm not sure what they mean by that. So I'm guessing that originally it came from Germany, but they are now in multiple plants around the globe.

[dannyhilton]

Mate, your headlights come from the Czech Republic, your car is NOT built or engineered there. The logos your looking at are for the headlights, several components come from there.

[Bucknaked]

Originally Posted by RapidTyphoon

Mate, your headlights come from the Czech Republic, your car is NOT built or engineered there. The logos your looking at are for the headlights, several components come from there.

I think the build information or compliance plate is in the door jams?

[dannyhilton]

Well there is no "Made in" actually on the Fiesta, well not easily found anyway. But you are right, if it was going to be anywhere that's where it would be. There is the normal compliance plate etc there though, just doesn't say the country of origin. He's actually looking under the bonnet, and on the backside on the headlights it was 'Made in the Czech Republic.' It states under this, 'Headlights.'

[Zetec Dave]

Not sure if its the same with other manufacturers but BMW vehicles incorporate it in their VIN numbers so you'd have to rely on google and forums to find out what what those corresponding letters in your VIN number means. Otherwise as for the Fiesta, no clue

[BruceT]

[QUOTE=Cespenar]Greenfoam: Not Spanish. The Fiesta's plates state "Manuf. in Czech Republic."[QUOTE]

Wow, Cespenar, your headlights are made in the Czech Republic too.

My VIN starts with "WF":
http://www.autocheck.com/consumers/c...-vin-decode.do
W means made in Germany, the F means Ford.

Another giveaway: the panel on the inside of the drivers door says "Ford Werke GMBH".
Werke is German for "Works" GMBH is short for "Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung", which means company with limited liability, abbreviated in Australia to "Ltd."
http://www.babylon.com/definition/GmbH/English#
Have another look and relax.

[dannyhilton]

Good job Bruce. Thanks for clearing that up, who'd have thought it would be so simple. Well said mate.

[zetec]

Guys here's some clarification...

All Fiesta/Focus/Mondeo are German engineered, based out of Cologne. This is their main design and engineering facility, just as Broadmeadows and Geelong are for Falcon/Territory.

The UK has a hand in the co-development of some high performance Team RS models (ST and RS) but Germany have official ownership.

All Fiestas EVER sold in Australia are 100% officially built and imported from Cologne, Germany, WITHOUT exception. EVER. This includes WP, WQ (incl XR4) and WS (incl Econetic). That's official.

LR Focus Hatch (incl ST170) came 100% from Saarlouis, Germany.
LR Focus Sedan came from Valencia, Spain.

LS/LT/LV Focus Hatch and Sedan are assembled in South Africa for the Oz market (along with global plants for other Focus markets now including Taiwan, South Africa, Germany, Russia and Mexico)
Focus XR5 Turbo is the exception here, being manufcatured in Saarlouis as the world's only ST and RS producer, linked with Team RS being based there and the low volumes not justifying multiple sites for build.

100% of Mondeo come from Genk, Belgium. I believe all previous Mondeos also came from Belgium 10 years ago.

All of the Eurofords are German engineered and most German built, except where demand has created second, third and beyond plants to keep up with global demand.

Hope that helps.

[zetec]

To clarify, Fiesta only comes from (thanks to Wikipedia!):
Almussafes, Spain
Chongqing, China
Cologne, Germany
Cuautitlán, Mexico (2010)
Rayong, Thailand (2010)


Mondeo
Genk, Belgium
Vsevolozhsk, Russia
Chongqing, China
Tao-Yuan, Taiwan
Hai Duong, Vietnam

Focus
Chongqing, China
General Pacheco, Argentina
Hermosillo, Mexico
Pretoria, South Africa
Saarlouis, Germany
Santa Rosa, Philippines
Setubal, Portugal
Taoyuan, Taiwan
Valencia, Spain
Vsevolozhsk, Russia
Hai Duong, Vietnam


I had no idea Focus was being built in so many plants!!

[FordFalconBF]

Originally Posted by zetec

To clarify, Fiesta only comes from (thanks to Wikipedia!):
Almussafes, Spain
Chongqing, China
Cologne, Germany
Cuautitlán, Mexico (2010)
Rayong, Thailand (2010)


Mondeo
Genk, Belgium
Vsevolozhsk, Russia
Chongqing, China
Tao-Yuan, Taiwan
Hai Duong, Vietnam

Focus
Chongqing, China
General Pacheco, Argentina
Hermosillo, Mexico
Pretoria, South Africa
Saarlouis, Germany
Santa Rosa, Philippines
Setubal, Portugal
Taoyuan, Taiwan
Valencia, Spain
Vsevolozhsk, Russia
Hai Duong, Vietnam


I had no idea Focus was being built in so many plants!!

Looks at all the locations.. except for Germany, they are all low paying countries.. more profit for Ford..... this is the reason the car industry is stuffed in Australia and America.

[greenfoam]

I doubt the wages in Belgium are less than Australia:S or even Spain, if they are we are being payed too much

[greenfoam]

I just looked it up and we are a couple grand above, even above Germany, how silly

[Cespenar]

The way Rudd is sucking up to the Chinese, we may get the Chinese made cars

[melbzetec]

The point is Cespenar, your car is made in Germany.
Albeit some individual parts are produced in other EU countries.

Check any Audi or BMW out of Germany and you'll find exactly the same situation.

Much the same I would suggest that all Ford Falcon parts are not made in Victoria, but sometimes come from other states (Given Europe and Australia are roughly the same geographical size)

As someone said earlier, the definitive information is contained in the VIN, and a search of this forum will find a post from a few years back (I think from Zetec) that outlines how to read all the codes in the VIN.

Given Fiestas will be produced in Thailand in 2010, I'd suggest we will be getting Thai Fiestas after that (given the Thailand Australia free trade agreement)

[chevypower]

Well what choices are there in that market segment? The Golf isn't made in Germany either is it? At least not for the US and Australian markets.