ohh poop. ford cancels fiesta rs

http://www.autoblog.com/2009/03/31/ford-reportedly-turning-its-back-on-production-fiesta-rs/

Damnit, it was going to be cheap, fast, and cool.

The Ford Fiesta RS has been canceled before – back in 2005 – and yet the rambunctious little hatchback lived to tell the story. Rumor has it that the hottest Fiesta has been canceled again, but these being changed times (and coming on the heels of news that the factory-tuned Fiesta ST has been canceled) it will be much more difficult for the even hotter RS to play the resurrection game. If this news is true, the reasons for the RS being canned are the same as it was the time: meager profit potential. The Fiesta ST reportedly has a chance of being revived in 2012, but until then, it's apparently standard models for everyone.

Bastards!

It's not like we were ever going to get that stateside anyway, after all it's a Ford that we would actually want to buy.

I know that Ford is in no position to take risks, but they should have put their necks on the line to make this happen -- and also happen in the U.S. A modern day equivalent to the 1983 VW Rabbit GTI -- i.e. an inexpensive, economical hot hatch -- is just what the doctor is ordering these days.

It's also looking like we're not getting a 3-door Fiesta. At least it appears in none of Ford's initial marketing efforts.

I stopped having faith in Ford after they taunted us with the Focus RS for years.

Oh, it started waaaaay before that.

It sounds like the powers that be up in Dearborn don't have their finger on the pulse of the car enthusiast community. Instead, it's all about the bean-counters.

At least there is still the Miata.......

NYG95GA wrote: It sounds like the powers that be up in Dearborn don't have their finger on the pulse of the car enthusiast community. Instead, it's all about the bean-counters. At least there is still the Miata.......

Yeah, I guess all those guys buying Mustangs, Shelbys and the recently cancelled Ford GT were not enthusiasts???

I don't understand why GM is in worse shape than Ford. Of the American car manufactures I find their cars to be the most appealing. Fords cars all seem.... like they were designed to be rental cars... or something.

MikeSVO wrote: Oh, it started waaaaay before that.

Exactly. Look at the cool Escorts they had over seas back in the 60s.

The thing I don't understand is why not use an existing drivetrain in multiple vehicles allowing it to be pedestrian in a mid or large car and a fire breather in a small light car.

Look at VWs GTi. The current one. The Rabbit/Golf has barely outsold the GTi, partly because the name change, partly because of the cost versus the Jetta and mostly because of the fact that for X,000 more you can have a hotter version of the car and not much of a penalty in ride or MPG. It is not for everyone but it is a cool option.

Ford has a lot of fantastic engines, but why do they need so many? Figure out how to shoehorn the twin charged engine into the Focus and charge $5,000 more calling it a Focus RS, I bet it will sell like the GTi does.

Something to think about- does the fact that the Fit doesn't come in an R package or the Scions- mean that Toyota and Honda have problems?

Some of the scrutiny that Ford and GM get when Honda and Toyota don't do the EXACT SAME THING just is sad.

We need to concentrate on making the best cars that MORE people will buy, not just make the enthusiest market happy. It's not like anyone on this board would seriously pay a premium for a new car.

Eric

You would ;)

I am fine with just getting the Fiesta (or Polo, 500, or...) because we NEED them. Plus the more of these cars in the market the more leverage Ford (VW, Fiat, or...) will have against the CAFE/MPG standards to make some high HP specialty cars.

The U.S. was never going to get the RS Fiesta....we didn't get the "old" RS Focus and we aren't getting the new one, either. Europe gets the 301 (YES, THREE HUNDRED horsepower) RS Focus and Europe's ST Focus really makes our old ST look pathetic. But folks in the U.S. both at FoMoCo and their customers, won't pay Mustang GT prices for a Focus or Fiesta so why try to market it? That takes a lot of money.

As for the comments about the Golf/Rabbit/Jetta....VW considers the Jetta to be the "volume" car in their lineup, they DON'T expect it to be outsold by the Golf or Rabbit or GTi.

I REALLY want to buy one of the 1st Fiestas, since I once owned a '80 that was dynamite for a $5,000 car. I won't tho, if Ford thinks all Americans want a 4 door sedan instead of the sportier hatches.

TR3only wrote: As for the comments about the Golf/Rabbit/Jetta....VW considers the Jetta to be the "volume" car in their lineup, they DON'T expect it to be outsold by the Golf or Rabbit or GTi.

It won't be, the Jetta starts $1500.00 less than the Rabbit.

Sadly, the enthusiast market will never save a car company. despite all our passion, we are a tiny, tiny market segment compared to the rest of the buying public. If they want to survive, they will have to sell cars that the most people want to buy for the least marketing and development dollar. Multi-sourcing drivetrains is a great way to help, but don't expect to see anything that requires a ton of re-engineering to create. As cool as we think that would be, even if every one that reads the magazine bought one brand new, it wouldn't create a bump in the road for one of the big manufacturers, ford or otherwise.

I say we blame it all on the lawyers.

I understand the enthusiast market is very small, and building a line around us would be very stupid. I can still pout.

At least GM is/was trying with the CTS-V, Solstice/Sky and some of the new RWD platforms (although, is it that hard to offer a manual transmission as an option?). But Ford seems like they could care less that some people see their car as more than a transportation appliance.

Ford has not (yet?) asked for "bailout money", one reason for that is that they have decided (apparently) to go where the buyers are....and not vice versa.

Ford built the original Mustang to appeal to EVERYONE. No one builds a car, or truck, like that anymore...it's all niches.

Stargazer wrote: At least GM is/was trying with the CTS-V, Solstice/Sky and some of the new RWD platforms (although, is it that hard to offer a manual transmission as an option?). But Ford seems like they could care less that some people see their car as more than a transportation appliance.

I don't get it...the cars you mention (CTS-V, Solstice/Sky) do have manual transmissions...???

Bryce

Stargazer wrote: At least GM is/was trying with the CTS-V, Solstice/Sky and some of the new RWD platforms (although, is it that hard to offer a manual transmission as an option?). But Ford seems like they could care less that some people see their car as more than a transportation appliance.

As opposed to say, Toyota??

Or even Honda?

IIRC, their performance cars for the masses have gone away, as well.

Again, it kills me that we (Ford) are held to a much, much higher standard of offerings than Toyota and Honda. I'd put a Focus up agaist a Corolla any day, any time, any where. And I'd also put up a Fusion against an Accord or Camry.

AND we STILL OFFER THE MUSTANG. Up until a few months ago, we could also argue that the Miata and Mazda 3 were very sporting cars, indeed. But now that we had to sell them off.

How about beating on them for a performance car (or a diesel- whatever the complaint flavor of the week is)????

We've got to do everything in our power to make the people who are buying 200k Fusions happy, not 2000 SVT Focuses. Heck, even the 150k basic Focuses are more important.

And the Fiesta WILL be here. In full Euro trim. Which, according to all the reports I've read, will be far better than the Honda and Toyota of equal offerings. But I'm sure you will all still find things to complain about, even when we will be better in all offerings.

Eric

Toyota - I agree; zero catering to the performance market. However, Toyota owns the "safe,reliable car" market IMO (while I don't necessarily agree that their cars are any safer or more reliable than domestics, that's the perception). We don't have that luxury.

Honda is still producing performance cars for the masses IMO (ok the S2K is going away, but they were a major player in the roadster market).

The problem with Ford, in my opinion, is that up until recently they put all their eggs in the truck market. F150's were their bread and butter, so why bother developing cars? Gas got expensive, the economy stinks, nobody wants to buy trucks, now they're SOL.

Personally, I like the Fusion, but I'm not in the market for a heavy 4 cylinder FWD stripper. I want the V6 AWD model, but Ford refuses to offer it with a manual transmission. So until they do, I'll keep buying foreign cars.

alphadriver... Please don't take me starting this thread to be bashing ford. Reverse your thoughts and be happy that the company is producing something that interested me( a pretty hardcore import guy). I look at it in this light. The euro fords have always intrigued me. I'll definitely look at the fiesta when it comes stateside.

Even though enthusiasts don't buy many new cars, and sportscars tend not to sell in big numbers, it's still important to throw a bone those directions. It's marketing.

Sure, we enthusiasts may not go out and buy that brand new Genesis Coupe (or whatever) that we salivate about, but all of our friends turn to us for car advice. Getting a buzz going about a halo car gets attention focused your way. Sure, it won't be a big seller on its own, but it gets feet in the showroom to buy something.

My grandparents ended up buying a brand new Acura CL, several years back, because the RSX had just come out, and I tested it and had a blast tossing it around. I told them I liked the RSX, they walked into an Acura dealer, decided that model wasn't for them, but got impressed by the CL.

Actually, I'd be very interested to see a statistical study of what releasing an enthusiast car does for general sales for a company. I'd be interested to see figures for what a tuner model (e.g. SVT Focus or Civic Si) does for sales, as compared to a halo car (e.g. Corvette or Viper). I bet that people would not be as wild about Subarus in general, if it weren't for the STi.