Ford Fiesta and Opel Corsa: two completely opposite strategies
- The Ford and Opel brands have had totally opposite strategies regarding their B-segment sedan, the Ford Fiesta and the Opel Corsa. When the brands were under the control of American carmakers Ford and GM, these two models saw their influence gradually reduce between 2007 and 2017, each falling from 450,000 / 500,000 sales per year to 250,000 / 300,000 in 2017.
- When GM sold its Opel subsidiary to PSA in 2017, the French carmaker immediately designed a new Corsa based on the Peugeot 208 and the Corsa was able to stabilize its sales at 200,000 / 250,000 units per year. While in the case of the Fiesta, sales continued to decline between 2017 and 2023. And its production ceased in July 2023.
- Ford's strategy was therefore to definitively abandon the category of B-segment sedans judged being unprofitable, while Opel (under the control of PSA and then Stellantis) chose on the contrary to continue to market this type of model, thanks to the mutualisation of its platform and some parts of its body with the Peugeot 208 (and also group’s SUVs) which represents 250,000/300,000 sales per year. The result of these divergent strategies has undoubtedly resulted in some Ford Fiesta customers switching to the Opel Corsa from 2019, as the two models are targeting the same market.
- The launch of the B-segment SUVs Ford Puma and Opel Mokka only slightly offset the sales drop of the Ford Fiesta (between 2019 and 2023) and Opel Corsa (between 2014 and 2017). The Ford Puma tops out at 150,000 units per year and the Opel Mokka at 100,000 units per year. This is much worse than the Peugeot 2008 which records 200,000 sales per year.