Thu 18 Sep 2008
Ford finally comes out with a car that can truly compete with high gas mileage Toyota and Honda, a sporty compact car that seats five, is up to date with modern technology and best of all gets 65 miles to the gallon. Only one problem, Ford is not selling it in the US!
Despite its incredible potential, 
Ford’s 2009 Fiesta ECOnetic will only be sold in Europe. Ford’s President, Mark Fields, has stated that there are number of undeniable business reasons that prevent Ford from selling in the US.
Ford’s Reasoning
The main reason for not selling in the US is this, the Fiesta ECOnetic runs on diesel. Ford believes that America’s prejudice to diesel and rising diesel prices will keep Americans from buying this 65 MPG vehicle.
Is Diesel All That Bad?
Europeans view diesel in a different light, 50% of all cars sold in Europe last year ran on diesel. In contrast only 3% of vehicles in the US run on diesel.
Many in the US still view diesel as a dirty fuel used for heavy machinery, however diesel vehicles hitting the market today are actually cleaner burning than modern gas-powered cars and are 30% more efficient.
Is The New Fiesta Worth it?
If Ford changed their mind and started selling the new Fiesta ECOnetic in the US, would it really be in your best interest to buy one?
Lets compare the Fiesta ECOnetic with the 2008 Ford Focus. The Fiesta ECOnetic gets 65 mpg, costs about $25,000 and runs on diesel. The 2008 Ford Focus gets 35 mpg, costs about $15,000, and runs on gas.
Diesel prices are averaging at about $4.02 in the US and regular gas averages at about $3.84. That is an extra 18 cents more you are paying a gallon for diesel. I know what you are thinking, 18 cents a gallon is nothing when you are getting twice as many miles to the gallon, but this not the only argument against the new Fiesta.
Is The Ford Focus Cheaper In The Long Run?
The average person drives 12,000 miles a year, that is 1,000 miles a month. That means you are going to pay approximately $60 a month in diesel with the Fiesta ECOnetic and approximately $111 a month in gas for a Ford Focus.
The car payment on your Focus would be $250 a month with a 5 year 7% interest loan. The payment on the Fiesta ECOnetic would be $500 a month with a 5 year 7% interest loan.
Your car payment and gas bill alone will cost you $361 a month for the Ford Focus and $560 a month for the Fiesta ECOnetic. When you think about it you are better off getting the much lower gas priced car for way cheaper. Even at $8 a gallon you would be paying $482 a month for the Focus and $620 for the Fiesta ECOnetic.
The new Ford that gets 65 miles a gallon in is not going to be sold in the US. Is that such a bad thing? Not really, when it gets down to simple math the 35 MPG Focus is much cheaper to own and drive than its 65 MPG brother.
September 19th, 2008 at 8:26 am
Well said!
I’ve never embraced the whole hybrid movement either unless you drive in excess of 20,000 miles per year and plan on keeping the car for at six or seven years.
I might change my mind when the $18,500 Honda Insight rolls out, but you can still get a Honda Fit for $6000 less.
September 27th, 2008 at 11:36 pm
\”much cheaper to own and drive\”… By this logic I could buy a 20 year old pickup truck that gets 12 miles per gallon for $1000 and come out on top at the end of 3 years. The only way we are ever going to change anything in this country is if people actually consider something other than their pocketbooks. In order to progress a technology there must be demand for it. I guarantee you people would buy these cars here simply for the eco benefit. Ultimately diesel cars need to catch back on in this country… diesel has a bad rap. what is so wrong about a hybrid turbo-diesel that runs on bio and gets a potential 75-85mpg? We will never get there if we all follow the closed mindset presented in this article.
September 30th, 2008 at 1:46 pm
@Aaron
I agree with you, if the only thing that people look to is the price than no progress will ever be made.
Unfortunately many of the people who are buying cars with new technology are buying them because they think that the better gas mileage will be easier on their wallets.
They see the the big tag that says the car gets over 40 MPG and they are willing to pay $10,000 more for it than a car that gets 25 miles to the gallon.
This article is meant to show that better gas mileage does not necessarily mean that the vehicle is cheaper in the long run.
Timm
October 8th, 2008 at 2:20 am
As far as I know that people in US are more crazy for anything which is highlighted over the TV or the net. Don’t Ford company know that?
October 10th, 2008 at 11:27 pm
Ford is all time my favorite car. My first car was ford.
December 10th, 2008 at 10:39 am
Here is the problem.
“The Fiesta ECOnetic gets 65 mpg, costs about $25,000 and runs on diesel. The 2008 Ford Focus gets 35 mpg, costs about $15,000, and runs on gas.”
The extra 10,000 ford is trying to charge for the diesel is bogus. Here’s why. You are told (by ford) that it costs more to make a diesel. False! Yes it DOES cost more to set up to begin PRODUCING the diesel engines. This is due to the fact that diesel engines run at higher compression ratios so must have closer tolerances. Also because of the increased compression, the castings must be more robust. But, once the dies/castings are made, and you are producing engine blocks they are, in fact, cheaper. The extra metal needed for the engine block does NOT cost more than the entire ignition system needed for a gasoline engine. Think about it for a second. No spark plugs. No spark plug wires, no distributor/ECU. no timing chain/gears. (Valve cam yes) and there is more.
Point being, manufactures charge more for the diesel option because they CAN. The lack of knowledge by the consuming public allows this. They simply don’t know any better. But trusting that a diesel costs more just because they say so is analogist to beleiving tobacco companies when they said that nicotine was non-additive, and that cigarettes don’t cause cancer.
January 5th, 2009 at 6:42 pm
@ty
Read the article… it was an example. Youre getting all worked up over nothing.
March 25th, 2009 at 5:40 am
is that 65 imperial Gallons or US gallons ??
May 16th, 2009 at 1:28 am
that is just bad news for Ford. i think Ford’s 65 MPG Car is will sell here in the US. a lot of people are still into cars.