(December 22, 2009) Ford is celebrating a year of success for its best-selling small car, recently collecting the 26th major European award for the Ford Fiesta in Bucharest — the Romanian Car of the Year award.

Over the past 12 months, the Ford Fiesta has been lauded across the globe, winning over 70 prestigious awards in 14 countries and regions to date – Australia, China, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Greece, Germany, Indonesia, Slovenia, Spain, Russia, Scotland, South Africa, the United Kingdom and Catalonia.  In China alone, the Ford Fiesta has collected an astonishing 44 accolades so far.

The awards have included national and individual publications' overall Car of the Year awards and best supermini and B-segment honours — all awarded for the Fiesta's all-round qualities.  Other awards have been for Fiesta's design or manufacturing excellence, and several for the Fiesta's impressive environmental performance, most notably for the sub 100g/km CO2 Ford Fiesta ECOnetic model.

"We are extremely proud of the latest Fiesta model both in terms of what it has achieved and what it represents," said John Fleming, Chairman and CEO of Ford of Europe. "The Fiesta is one of the vehicles that is key to how Ford Motor Company is transforming itself globally. We're delighted that so many car buyers have chosen it, and that so many opinion formers have acknowledged its many strengths."

The large number of accolades the car has received highlights how well it has been received by the global media.   

More importantly though, is the success new Fiesta has met with from customers, with over 540,000 examples sold since the car was launched just over a year ago.  Of those, over 492,000 sales have been in Europe, where Ford Fiesta is the No.2 best-selling car overall, and the No.1 top-seller in its segment year-to-date.

The Fiesta will go on sale in North America next year.