What Women (Should) Want

Their verdict? The Ford Fiesta, specifically the model with the massively innovative 1.0-litre EcoBoost engine, which has been named overall winner of the 2013 Women’s World Car of the Year award.

The vehicle was launched in South Africa in February this year and, as WOW editor Charleen Clarke comments, the Fiesta is a star on all fronts. South Africa is a particularly price sensitive market, both when it comes to the purchase price and the running costs of cars. But South Africans also adore brands that they know and trust. As such, the new Ford Fiesta, specifically with its EcoBoost engine  is already finding massive favour with motorists in this market, she reveals.

Clarke says that the Ford brand has long been well known and much loved in South Africa. Now, of course, it is comes with the Fiesta’s sensational styling and SYNC technology, the surprisingly good performance of the EcoBoost engine (the 1.0-litre motor will amaze even the most jaded of motorists) and superb economy. This is an unbeatable combination, she contends.

Clarke is the sole South African judge on the Women’s World Car of the Year adjudication panel, which is made up of the leading female motoring journalists from all over the world. The award should not come as a massive surprise. Craig von Essen, product and communications manager for Ford Motor Company,  Asia-Pacific and Africa, says the company?s cars are designed with women in mind. ?Women pack powerful purchasing power, representing a huge market opportunity.  The fact that a respected panel of published and specialist women motoring writers selected the Ford Fiesta 1.0l EcoBoost is a significant accolade as we work to design, develop and market our vehicles, technologies and services in a way that captures the attention of this very influential buying group, he tells WOW.

The Fiesta also won the economy car category in the competition. The Audi Allroad won the family car category, the Range Rover was named the best luxury car, the Porsche Boxster S came up trumps in the sports car category and the Mazda CX-5 was named the best sports utility vehicle (SUV).

Text: Charleen Clarke