Ford Fiesta hatchback - Practicality & boot space (2017-2023)

The Fiesta has always been an easy car to drive, and this is still true of the latest model. With light, progressive steering and a tight turning circle, manoeuvres on cramped urban streets are made easy. Visibility is generally good, although the small rear windscreen and thick C-pillars can make backing up tricky unless you opt for a reversing camera from the options list. The Fiesta's door mirrors are on the smaller side, too.

Meanwhile, previous generations have been criticised for their limited interior space, particularly for those in the back. Fortunately, the latest Fiesta represents a big improvement in interior room and practicality, making it a truly family-friendly supermini. It's comfy, light and airy inside, while the five-door model gets wide-opening rear doors that make access to the rear seats easy.

Ford Fiesta interior space & storage

Those in the front will find a good driving position easy to find thanks to plenty of adjustment in the seat and the steering wheel. With the pedals and gear lever perfectly placed, you’re just as well placed for a comfortable cruise or a spirited back-road blast. The seat can even be dropped low like a sports car's if you so choose.

To address criticism of previous, rather cramped models, the latest Fiesta has an additional 16mm of knee room for those in the rear, assisted by redesigned front seats with a thinner backrest that takes up far less space. While that doesn’t sound like a huge gain, passengers will find that the Fiesta is now a match for the Volkswagen Polo and SEAT Ibiza in this regard. Taller rear passengers may still find headroom an issue, however. We’d avoid the panoramic sunroof if you plan on carrying taller passengers often, as it cuts into headroom by a few centimetres.

Interior storage impresses, too – the glovebox is claimed to have grown by 20% and has a separate slot for the manual and car documents. There’s also a one-litre storage bin in the centre console while each of the rear doors can house a half-litre drinks bottle, too.

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Boot space

The latest Fiesta’s boot has only grown very slightly compared to its predecessor, but a wider tailgate should make it easier to load your luggage. There are 311 litres of space with the parcel shelf in place – an increase of around 20 litres over the previous car. You can remove the shelf and drop the rear seats for a total of 1,093 litres, which is usefully more accommodating than the previous model’s seat-down capacity of 974 litres. You can also specify a variable boot floor to help flatten the load area. The Ford Puma - which will effectively take on the baton from the Fiesta when it goes out of production - has a boot measuring 456 litres.