The Ford Fiesta has been judged New Zealand’s Car of the Year by the country’s leading motoring writers and commentators.
The new Fiesta was launched internationally in late 2008, and has been available in New Zealand since early 2009.
Members of the NZ Motoring Writers’ Guild judged both the manual and automatic versions of the five-door car when coming to their decision.
As well as performance and handling, other consideration included suitability for the task for which the Fiesta is designed, its value for money, ease of operation, economy, along with its level of home comforts, quality of finish, safety accoutrements and visual appeal.
“The areas in which the Fiesta makes its strongest impression are surely its stand-out styling and superb handling dynamics and refinement,” said Guild president John Oxley.
The Fiesta includes many features as standard that are not common on a car in this class, including voice-controlled Bluetooth phone connectivity, USB and 3.5mm auxiliary audio inputs, steering wheel-mounted audio system controls, cruise control and a security alarm system.
Its safety credentials are also impressive, with dual front and side airbags plus a knee-bag for the driver and electronic stability programming. It holds the maximum 5-star occupant protection rating from the European NCAP crash testing.
The Fiesta was one of a dozen finalists for this year’s New Zealand Car of the Year award, which is open to new models launched in New Zealand during the 12 months prior to November 1 2009. See the other models here.
Recent past winners of the title, which is now in its 22nd year, have been the Ford Falcon (2008), Mazda 2 (2007) and Porsche Cayman (2006).
Read more about the Ford Fiesta here, including an in-depth review.
See the Ford Fiesta for sale here.
