News: Ford Fiesta is UK’s best-selling car of all time

LEARNER CAR, first car, mum’s taxi, rental favourite…  whatever the job, a Ford Fiesta has probably done it, which is why, according to the car maker, this month it became the UK’s best-selling vehicle of all time with lifetime sales totalling 4,115,000.

The Fiesta was launched in the UK in January 1977 and has since passed through six generations. It was popular from the start in the face of tough competition that included the Vauxhall Chevette and, some four years later, the Austin Metro. Tidy handling, good reliability, competitive special editions and successive XR2 and now ST hot-hatch versions kept it high in the sales charts, with the result that for 27 of its 37 years in the UK it has led the small car segment. It has been Britain’s best-selling car since 2009, when it overtook the Ford Focus.

The Fiesta’s success trumps Ford’s previous UK record sales holder, the Escort, which recorded sales of 4,105,961 during the 32 years (1968 to 2000) it was on sale.

And it kicks the Mini, which has notched up 2,143,998 UK sales since the launch of the original car in 1959, into the long grass.

Watch out for driving.co.uk‘s Ford Fiesta buying guide later this week.

 Click here to read our review of the latest Ford Fiesta.