The Ford Fiesta was Europe’s bestselling small car in March and for the first three months of 2013, according to the latest figures from the world’s leading provider of automotive data and intelligence, JATO Dynamics.

European customers bought Fiestas at a rate of one every 100 seconds during the first quarter of 2013 – 41,600 in March and 77,800 total in the first three months of this year – 14,000 units more than its nearest rival, according to JATO.

Parked bumper to bumper, the Fiestas sold during the first quarter would cover the equivalent of 770 laps of a 400-metre Olympic running track.

“It’s clear from the rate that our new Fiesta is flying off forecourts that it’s striking a chord with Europe’s small car customers,” Roelant de Waard, vice-president, marketing, sales and service, Ford of Europe, said.

“The small car segment is probably more competitive than it has ever been and the new Fiesta is gaining retail market share and reaching new customers on the strength of its design, technology and drive dynamics.”

Fiesta’s retail share – sales to private customers – in its segment rose by 1.2 percentage points in March. Incoming orders from customers also increased by eight per cent in the first quarter, compared with the same period last year.

The new Fiesta offers seven powertrain options that offer sub-100g/km CO2 performance, including the 1.0-litre EcoBoost engine, the 2012 International Engine of the Year. One quarter of Fiestas sold this year in Europe were equipped with 1.0-litre EcoBoost.

The new Fiesta also features dynamic new exterior and interior styling with benchmark design, craftsmanship and ergonomics, in addition to offering Ford MyKey, which enables parents to place restrictions on younger drivers to promote safety.

Also new to Fiesta is Ford’s SYNC voice-activated in-car connectivity system, featuring Emergency Assistance, which can alert local emergency services operators to an accident in 26 languages, spoken in 40 European regions. Sixty per cent of new Fiestas ordered during the first four months of the year feature the Euro NCAP Advanced reward-winning system.

The most popular colour to date is Frozen White, chosen by 23 per cent of customers – rising to 40 per cent in Greece – followed by Panther Black and Moondust Silver.

Fifty-five per cent of Fiesta buyers have opted for the Charcoal Black interior, including 84 per cent of UK customers.

For news releases, related materials and high-resolution photos and videos, visit www.media.ford.com.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.