This is the last year for the Ford Fiesta ST

Monday, 8 August 2022

The Stuff Top Sports/Performance Car for 2020 is the Ford Fiesta ST.

Ford has confirmed sad news: the Fiesta ST pocket rocket won’t be offered in 2023.

“The Fiesta ST has been segment-defining hot hatch for New Zealand and has put smiles on the faces of enthusiasts across the country, and we want to thank those fans for their passion,” said Simon Rutherford, Managing Director, Ford New Zealand.

“But with semi-conductor-related supply shortages and our focus on emerging areas of growth, we’ve made the difficult decision to call time on the iconic hot hatch. We look forward to sharing more about the next era of our performance vehicle line-up soon,” said Rutherford.

The awesome little Fiesta ST won’t be a part of the local Ford range in 2023.

According to Rutherford, existing customer orders for the Fiesta ST will be supported. We would imagine new orders won’t be taken, but it might pay to talk to your local dealer if you’ve been sitting on the fence.

**READ MORE:

The refreshed ST would have put it on the same performance ground as the Polo GTI... Another model not available any more.

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The Fiesta ST is a brilliant little hatchback, earning our Top Car award for sports/performance back in 2020. It might have only produced 147kW/290Nm from its 1.5-litre engine, but the three-cylinder snarl marked it apart from the four-pot competition, with the crisp manual transmission icing on the cake.

It was due for an update this year too, getting a rejigged front end with matrix-LED headlights and an updated interior with an eight-inch infotainment screen running a refreshed version of Sync 3.

The engine received a torque bump to 320Nm while power remained the same.

As for the “next era” of Ford’s performance vehicles, expect the Ranger Raptor to lead the charge, with the next Mustang coupe set to follow later this year along with the Mustang Mach-E SUV next year.