The new small car represents the blueprint for future global product development efforts at Ford and will be tailored to meet customer preferences for interior features, exterior [...] No related posts. Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.]]> Ford have just begun today began production of the all-new Ford Fiesta, the first in a portfolio of global small cars, at their Cologne plant in Germany.

The new small car represents the blueprint for future global product development efforts at Ford and will be tailored to meet customer preferences for interior features, exterior colors, body styles and other options in each region of the world. It will go on sale progressively between now and 2010, starting in Europe.

The Cologne plant is the first Ford assembly facility in the world to build the new global car. Production will start at Valencia Assembly Plant in Spain in January 2009.

In North America, the models will be produced at the company’s Cuautitlan Assembly Plant in Mexico in 2010. Retooling the plant from its current production of F-Series trucks to small car production will begin in December.

Fiesta production for the Asian market begins later this year in Nanjing, China and Rayong, Thailand.

Within five years, Ford expects to build about 1 million vehicles worldwide off the new global B-car platform along with nearly 2 million vehicles off the global C-car unit.

“The Fiesta is special to us in Ford of Europe and to our customers,” said John Fleming, President and CEO, Ford of Europe. “Over the past 32 years it has consistently been at the top of the list of Europe’s best-selling cars.”

Since the first Fiesta was launched in 1976, more 12 million have been sold, with over 400,000 customers in 2007 proving the enduring popularity of the model.

Earlier this year, the Cologne plant began using renewable electricity generated by three hydro-power plants in Norway and Sweden, reducing the plant’s CO2 emissions by 190,000 tons a year. This initiative is part of the company’s overall commitment to further reduce the environmental footprint of its vehicles through their life cycle.

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