Ford Fiesta is now the biggest-selling car of all time as UK motor manufacturing continues to rise from the ashes

By LEE BOYCE

Updated: 08:48 EDT, 24 July 2014

The Fiesta has officially become the best-selling car of all time in Britain with Ford announcing it has shifted 4,115,000 in the last 38 years.

The popular supermini has overtaken previous record holder the Ford Escort, which sold 4,105,961 over a 32 year period.

The most popular Ford Fiesta series in Britain is the Zetec, priced at £12,945, and features remote
central locking, electric windows and door mirrors, air conditioning and seven airbags.

Modern Fiesta: The car has been biggest seller since 2009 and continues to out-trump supermini rivals

Monthly data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders frequently place the Fiesta as the top-selling car. Recent half-year figures from the SMMT show there were 70,153 Fiesta sales so far in 2014, with its next nearest competitor – the Ford Focus – shifting a far lower 44,754.

When it was launched in 1976, the Ford Fiesta cost just £1,865, compared to £12,495 for the today's bestselling Zetec model.

Since its launch, the Fiesta has led the small car segment in the UK for 27 of the 37 years and has
been Britain’s best-selling car since 2009.

Mark Ovenden, head of Ford Britain, said: 'The Ford Fiesta has gone from strength to strength and
today’s car combines style, value, driving dynamics and remarkable technologies such as the multi-
award-winning 1.0-litre EcoBoost engine.

'It continues to outsell its nearest retail competitor by more than two to one - and that really tells
the story of this extraordinary car.'

Millennium motor: As the decades have rolled on, Fiesta sales have strengthened. Here is one from 2000

This first-generation Fiesta, with the 46bhp four-cylinder 950cc petrol engine, weighed around 800kg
and achieved 37.7mpg.

Today a 1.0litre Fiesta is more than a third heavier, but achieves nearly 66mpg.

More than 40 per cent of Fiesta buyers in the UK today choose the turbo-charged 1.0-litre EcoBoost
engine, and almost 90 per cent opt for higher level specification - Zetec, Zetec S, Titanium, Titanium
X and ST models with the Ford SYNC voice-controlled connectivity system.

Forever popular: The Fiesta has evolved over the years. Here is a model from 1995

Fiesta models are now developed in Dunton, Essex, while engines are assembled in Dagenham, Essex, and Bridgend, south Wales. Cars destined for the UK market are built in Germany and Spain.

Pre-2002, Fiesta models were assembled at its Dagenham plant and it was the last car to roll off its Essex production line, which has since closed.

But overall British car manufacturing is on the way up. Separate data from the SMMT today showed a total of 136,419 vehicles were manufactured in June 2014 - a 3.7 per cent rise on the figure for the same month last year.

The latest figures took the year-so-far total to 791,314 - a 3.5 per cent increase on the January-June 2013 figure.

Way up: Car manufacturing plummeted in the wake of the financial crisis, but continues to grow steadily

The number of cars produced for the home market rose 1.9 per cent in the first six months of this year while production for export was up four per cent.

SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes said: ‘UK car production continued its steady growth in June, leading to a half-year increase.

‘With several manufacturers having started assembly of new models this year and billions of pounds of investment still to reach production fruition, this is an exciting time for the UK automotive sector.’

Last month, Jaguar Land Rover announced it is to create 250 jobs to  build the new ‘baby’ Land Rover at its factory on Merseyside as part of a £200million investment.

The jobs to build the Land Rover Discovery Sport, which goes on sale in 2015, will see the Halewood workforce treble in four years to 4,750.

The £200million investment takes the total amount invested in Halewood over the past four years  to almost £500million.

John Leech, head of automotive at KPMG, said: 'This has been a credible first half of the year for UK car production. A lot of important new models were launched such as the Nissan Qashqai, BMW Mini and Range Rover Sport and I expect a strengthening trend into the second half of 2014. 

'With the Jaguar XE and the new Vauxhall Astra due to be launched early next year, we are on the threshold of a golden era of British car manufacturing.'