In 1976, the first examples of what would become Ford’s first successful global front-wheel-drive car rolled off the assembly line. The name of the car was Fiesta, and it was built as a fresh new entrant into the supermini segment. While superminis enjoyed worldwide popularity, Americans generally enjoyed larger vehicles, especially during the ’70s. Regardless, the Fiesta debuted in 1976 and made its way into American dealerships alongside such massive land yachts as the 1976 Ford LTD.
While the first-generation Fiesta only saw modest success in the United States, its popularity elsewhere was another story. The Fiesta continued in production for many years, undergoing five major updates before being retired for good. A reputation for being a good handling, no-nonsense little car of generally strong reliability kept customers coming back year after year. Several high-performance versions came about that are now sought-after hot hatches today. It returned to American soil from 2011 to 2018, with 2023 being the last year for it everywhere else.
While the Fiesta saw little uphold from American car buyers, that did not stop it from being a genuine sales success for Ford. Sales spread worldwide with factories in 15 countries producing it. In the end, Ford managed to push 22 million units across all markets, making it the best-selling car ever made by Ford.
