Ford Fiesta ST prices announced

Ford has announced prices for the Fiesta ST, which goes on sale in April this year, starting at £16,995. This means that the new Fiesta hot hatch will undercut its main rivals, the new Peugeot 208 GTI and the Renaultsport Clio 200 EDC, as these will cost from around £18,000 when they go on sale in the UK later this year.

As with the bigger Focus ST, the Fiesta will be offered with options packages that deliver different levels of kit. As standard, the Fiesta ST will come with a sports steering wheel, a bespoke gearlever and ST badging throughout.

The entry ST1 option gets 17-inch alloys, front foglights, Recaro seats, Ford’s SYNC voice-activated infotainment system (which allows you to hear your texts and features Bluetooth and MP3 music streaming), plus a DAB digital radio.

The range-topping Fiesta ST2 will cost £17,995 and adds part-leather to the Recaro seats as well as adding climate control, an upgraded Sony Stereo, keyless entry and engine start, plus LED daytime running lights on top of the standard and ST1 packages.

The Ford Fiesta ST will come only as a three-door to the UK, but buyers in the US will also get the option of a five-door model.

With 180bhp, the ST will have less power than its closest hot hatch rivals – which will both get around 200bhp – but that will still be enough to allow the fastest Fiesta to go from 0-62mph in 6.9 seconds. To get that power effectively, the Fiesta features a three-stage ESP traction-control and anti-skid system, plus torque vectoring (which distributes power to whichever wheel has the most grip). The ST is also expected to return economy of 40mpg and emit 138g/km of CO2.

A six-speed manual gearbox is currently the only transmission option, as there is no automatic or dual-clutch gearbox choice available at present.

To view the full Ford range, see the CarBuyer Ford reviews page.