And the answer to yesterday's question is:

"We don't know."

That's all I got back from Ford, condensed to three words or less.

"Dear Mr. ******,

Thank you for contacting the Ford of Canada Customer Relationship Centre. We received your message sent on 6/2/2008 regarding your inquiry on future models.

Ford of Canada makes every effort to maintain a high standard of quality control in our manufacturing process. We pride ourselves on becoming the world's leading consumer- company for automotive products and services."

Ok, they got the obligatory back-patting out of the way. Nothing unusual there.

"From time to time, vehicle models are added, deleted or modified. Decisions to make these changes take into account factors such as market trends, customer demands, engineering advances, and dealership input.

At the Customer Relationship Centre, we are not notified in advance of changes that our Engineering and Design Team may be making and the specific reasons that the changes may be made in the future. We have documented your comments for future reference."

All that to say "we don't know". I noticed they didn't give me an email to contact the people that make the decisions. I'm going to have to work on getting that on my own I guess. At least they're keeping my query on file. It's a good thing. If enough people ask "hey, why aren't we getting the really fuel efficient cars?" the people whose job it is to take note of the 'market trends, customer demands' criteria she referred to will have something to work with.

"If you have any other inquiries or concerns, please feel free to contact us and we will be happy to address them.

Thank you for contacting Ford of Canada.

Sincerely,
******
Ford of Canada
Customer Relationship Centre"

Well, it was worth a shot.

The thing is, Ford has already announced that they're bringing the Fiesta (the hatchback model even!) to North America. Read more about that HERE.

Unfortunately, there's no mention in the autoblog.com article as to whether or not they intend to make the Duratorq diesels an option. It might not be for everyone, but 4.4L/100km (65MPG) sounds awfully nice to me. Not to mention the fact that that Fiesta is one of the best looking hatchbacks out there right now... 2-doors or 4. (Gallery at autoblog.com)