The three-door Fiesta was the original version, and that was kept for the third generation of the supermini-segment Ford contender.
While Europe was shaking off the communist regimes, Ford celebrated with a new generation of the Fiesta. It was drastically improved from top to bottom and from the hood to the tailgate. But Ford had a different problem now: should it address the car to its regular customers or risk and find new ones to introduce some more expensive versions. In the end, it chose to stay true to its clients and expand the lineup a little more with the introduction of a five-door Fiesta and a light-utility vehicle named Courier.

There were still some cues that resembled its predecessor, but the overall design was far more different than that. The angular, horizontal headlights featured corner-mounted turn-signals, even though Fiesta featured additional turn signals on the front fenders. With its black handles on the doors, the car offered better access inside than most of the vehicles built in the East-European countries.

Inside, a new design trend broke the past’s angular lines and brought the new, smoother lines of the ’90s. It was the dawn of the biodesign era. The center-mounted speedometer and the race-inspired look for the tachometer were a good sign of evolution for the small-segment Ford car. The Fiesta was offered with a sunroof, radio-cassette player, air-conditioning, and power-windows on the options list. For the most powerful version, the XR2i, the Fiesta offered sport-bucket seats that matched the car’s handling.

Ford promised to offer fuel-efficient engines and installed a choice of gasoline and diesel units. All of them were paired to a 5-speed manual transmission.