The third generation of the Fiesta was the first to receive a 5-door version, which led to a huge commercial success on the European market.
While the Eastern Europe communist countries were free again, a new market was opened for the car manufacturers. It was perfect timing for Ford to introduce a small, five-door vehicle, which was more affordable than most of the other German vehicles on the market. Its calculations were right.

For the design, Ford already decided to have similarly shaped headlights on its cars, and the Fiesta followed the rule. The corner-mounted turn signals mimicked the ones found on its bigger brothers, the Escort, the Sierra, and the large Scorpio. 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 angular lines of the past 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.

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