22.3.2012 New Ford Fiesta returns 85 mpg

Ford's newest Fiesta model officially returns more than 85 mpg, making it one of the most efficient and lowest emitting conventional vehicle available today.

The latest Ford Fiesta ECOnetic model now on sale emits just 87 gCO2/km – meaning free road tax and no London Congestion Charge for the car – while sipping diesel fuel at the rate of just 85.6 mpg on the combined cycle.

The top-selling Ford Fiesta leads a car range which has reduced its average fleet CO2 to 134 g/km today from 154.5 g/km in 2006 according to independent analysis. This reduction has inherently been accompanied by a proportional increase in mpg figures as the cars have been made more efficient.

As market leader in the UK, selling more cars and vans than any other manufacturer, Ford's low-CO2 technology has the greatest impact in shielding household budgets from the effect of rising fuel prices. And British expertise are behind Ford's drive towards more fuel-efficient motoring – a team of more than 2,000 Essex based engineers lead on the development of the company's latest engines.

Six years ago the best a Ford Fiesta could achieve was 65.1 mpg, a Ford Focus could do no more than 51.4 mpg and the Ford Mondeo, 44.1mpg.

Today, alongside Ford Fiesta's 85 mpg, this year's Ford Focus ECOnetic is also road tax and congestion charge-exempt at 83.1 mpg (88 gCO2/km) and a 65.6 mpg (114 gCO2/km) Ford Mondeo is available as both a five-door and an estate.

All these models are diesel, featuring Ford's acclaimed 1.6-litre TDCi engine assembled at Dagenham at the site's high-tech wind-powered plant.

For petrol fans, Ford's new 125 and 100 PS 1.0-litre EcoBoost engine debuting in the Ford Focus achieves up to 58.9 mpg (and as low as 109g CO2), which still saves on road tax in the first year.

Mark Ovenden, Ford Britain managing director, said, "We cannot influence how the cost of motoring changes as a result of today's Budget, but we will continue to design, develop and market innovative vehicles that minimise the cost of motoring for today's families. Our cars are fun to drive, stylish and packed with technology, while returning up to 20 mpg more than just a few years ago."

Newspress