Ford is betting small cars have big appeal with consumers.
The company that became synonymous with trucks and SUVs is shaking things up with a move toward smaller, more fuel efficient cars. The centerpiece of the campaign is the 2011 Ford Fiesta, which is smaller than anything we've seen out of Dearborn in years. It's part of CEO Alan Mullaly's push to boost fuel efficiency, a campaign that includes putting smaller engines in lighter cars.
Ford rolled into Manhattan with a Fiesta to show everyone how cool it is to "Go Small and Live Large" and show small is the new big (a point, incidently, it's also trying to make with the 2012 Focus). Ford is hardly alone in beating this drum. General Motors is placing a big bet with the 2011 Chevrolet Cruze and next-gen Chevrolet Aveo, for example. Both companies are competing against cars like the Toyota Corolla and Honda Civic, two mainstays of the segment.
But while small cars are big in Europe -- where one-third of all vehicles sold is a compact -- they're aren't so popular here in the states. That's changing. J.D. Power & Associates says compacts and subcompacts, which comprised 21 percent of the domestic market five years ago, will hit 35 percent by 2013.
"People used to think that small meant you were sacrificing something," says Ford's Sheryl Connelly, who has the cool title of global trends and futuring manager. "Vast improvements in technology have shifted that paradigm. In a lot of ways, small has become chic."
One thing helping Ford push into the small-car segment is its EcoBoost engines. The turborcharged direct-injection gasoline engines provide the same power and torque as larger engines. An EcoBoost four-cylinder has the power of a V-6, for example. The engines get up to 20 percent better fuel economy and cut emissions 15 percent.
Beyond providing consumers with the performance they expect -- and the numbers Ford needs to meet tightening fuel economy regulations -- Ford says the engines are more cost-effective. They also provide an alternative to consumers who might want an eco-friendlier car but don't want to spend the added cash for gas-electric like the Fusion Hybrid.
But the trend toward smaller, more fuel-efficient cars is about more than saving money and the environment. A lot of people are downsizing, either by circumstance or design, and simplifying. Connelly said. The "era of excess" -- where, for example, city dwellers bought all-wheel-drive SUVs but never went off-roading -- is waning, she says. Small cars are especially appealing to the so-called millennials -- twenty-something buyers -- and retirees who, Connelly said, are asking themselves, "What do I do with all this stuff."
Chiwei Lee, a senior designer at Ford, says Ford is applying the "less is more" philosophy to its entire product line and trying to go global with it.
"The trend is really globally-oriented," Lee said. "People in the U.S. see European cars and they want the same thing here in the U.S. We want to fill that need, but we also want to reach out to the countries where those influences are coming from."
Yeah, but will it play in Peoria? The odds are good. Ford's already sold more than 500,000 Fiestas in Europe since introducing the car there in October, 2008, making it the second-biggest seller there.
Photo: Jim Merithew / Wired.com. The 2011 Ford Fiesta is unveiled at the 2009 L.A. Auto Show.
