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Ford shuffles Fiesta line up to accommodate Fiesta AT!

Update: As we informed you earlier, the new Ford Fiesta Ambiente petrol variant has been launched by the American car maker. This time the Fiesta comes with slashed price tag that is Rs 7.23 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi). After adding up this new variant, now the Fiesta petrol model range has only four variants in its line up viz., Ford Fiesta Style AT, Ford Fiesta Ambiente, Ford Fiesta Titanium Plus and Ford Fiesta Titanium Plus AT. While the Diesel models have been cut short to two variants namely Ford Fiesta Style Diesel and Ford Fiesta Titanium Plus.

In order to accommodate the new entrant Ford Fiesta Automatic in the line up, the American car maker has shuffled the line up. Out of the four variants viz. Ford Fiesta Style, Trend, Titanium and Titanium+, Ford has silently dropped Trend and Titanium variants while a new variant by the name Ambiente has been added to the line up, as per reports coming in. Notably, the Fiesta AT version is available on the Style and Titanium+ models only. At a starting price of Rs 8.99 lakh, Ford believes to present an entry level super technology based variant to the India market where there is a significant increase in demand for AT cars.

The affordable pricing will also help the American car maker to have a one to one fight with Honda City, Hyundai Verna besides other cars that have their automatic transmission version already in place. Experts believe that entry Fiesta AT is late however; it has entered with newer dual clutch technology that has since been found in Skoda Laura.

The shuffling of the line up seems to be necessary following the clash in pricing between the Fiesta AT variant and the existing models. The Fiesta Style and Titanium + models remain the same and there has been an addition of Ambient variant that comes loaded with driver airbag and is priced at Rs 8.2 lakh. The introduction of Automatic transmission in Fiesta sedan is also seen as a move to fill in the gap that has irked Ford for quite sometime. Also, reports suggest that there has been an increase in the number of car buyers demanding automatic version of Fiesta and due to non-availability lately, Ford had to suffer the loss.

The Fiesta AT comes with Dual clutch technology and returns a mileage of 16.97 kmpl that is exceptional for an automatic car of this size. Ford believes that the new Powershift technology will give the Fiesta the same thrust and feel as that of a manual transmission powered car but will be easier to drive in city, in hilly areas and on highways as well.