Before the automotive world accepted the term ‘crossover’ into its vocabulary, the hatch already existed as a class of car equally adept at functioning as an economical people mover and as a useful commodity carrier. I personally moved a home or two’s contents using an Opel T-car, so can spiritedly testify. Times have changes, and in today’s B-segment offerings the car industry is arguably pulling off its biggest trick yet. Essentially shrunk versions of their respective C-segment halo cars, these small big hatches still offer surprising luggage and living space. Some seem more directly related to their bigger brethren than others. Ford’s Fiesta, despite being a clean slate design, could best be described as a mini Focus. Honda’s Jazz, now in its second iteration, continues the hatch-met-baby-MPV trend it started, so looks bulkier than the others. Suzuki’s Swift, which undercuts these rivals by R10 000 and adds 100cc to their under-hood credentials, is the wildcard in this deck. So it could easily walk this shootout. Or could it?

THE FEISTY AND THE FURIOUS
Ford’s new Fiesta is off to a good start. It’s based loosely on its cousin, the Mazda2 (World Car of the Year) and is itself a runner-up for the European Car of the Year (ECOTY) awards. Hailed as Ford’s first global car, its much vaunted design is wholly European and will spearhead the brand’s new corporate identity in the metal. For Ford, teetering on the brink of bankruptcy or government bailout, this car has to work. And it will work. Just look at it! It causes rubber-necking like I have never seen before, albeit mostly from previous generation Fiesta owners. Men and women – always trendy, usually quite young – bathed it with a relentless stream of attention. Covered in metallic blue with the Trend model’s 15in alloys in each corner and the severely raked headlight clusters dissecting its muscular bonnet, the Fiesta looks purposeful. Its controversial trapezoidal mouth remains permanently agape between the integrated fog light clusters – for some a styling sticking point that I don’t mind in the slightest. Pumped up wheel arches and a pair of heavily accented creases along its flanks enhance its precision sports car form, while flowing neatly into the lines of the stubby rear end. Angular light clusters flank the spoiler-bedecked rear windscreen, completing the essential hatch profile.

Inside, the centre console is a lesson in innovation, mimicking the shape and function of a cellular phone (or the little monster from Lilo and Stitch). On this Trend model priced at R148 900 your Fiesta comes equipped with a Bluetooth connection, so it’s able to mate with your cellphone too. You also benefit from an iPod-friendly auxiliary input jack, and MP3 compatibility blasted at you via a four-speaker sound system controllable by satellite buttons on the steering wheel. You’ll enjoy power steering, electric windows, central locking, aircon, a ‘Soft Feel’ gear knob and the comfort of airbags. Don’t let that tapering body fool you though. With the rear seats in place the Fiesta still enjoys a respectable 284 litres of bootspace.
After a brief fiddle with various knobs and levers a favourable driving position is attained, and from this comfy vantage I hope to extract the full 60kW and 128Nm from the 1388cc Sigma engine. No silly ‘Ford Powered’ start button here; just stick in the key and ‘how’s your father’, she turns over instantly. The pedals feel light and just a mild dab at the accelerator sees the revs rise with enthusiasm. The exhaust note is hollow as though an induction-friendly air filter were bolted on, but the rort from the tiny four-potter promises more than it delivers. It’s the slowest car here by a narrow margin. Zero to one hundred is dealt with in 10.95 seconds, which is on par for a 1.4 litre. Power delivery is linear to the 5500r/min peak, then drops off to the 6000r/min redline, so an early up-change should still get you barrelling along at keen pace. Keeping the throttle pinned to the floor whilst exiting a bend sees all four wheels firmly attached to the black stuff with minimal tyre squeal – proof perhaps that with this Fiesta, Ford has an exciting foundation on which to build a track-happy ST model. While performance is adequate, chances are that if you’re in the market for a mini hatchback speed will not be on top of your priority list. Style might be though, in which case for a small premium you could opt for the gorgeous three-door Titanium model. But then you lose out on practicality, which is something the five-door has in spades. Decisions, decisions.