Fiesta Movement Underway: 100 Ford Fiestas Land on U.S. Soil

Since registration for Ford's Fiesta Movement ended earlier this month, the company has been sifting through the more than 3300 "agent" applications. In the meantime, the 100 cars that will be given to the lucky "agents" have just arrived in the U.S.

Before bringing the cars here, Ford had to obtain special permission from the EPA. The company also had to modify the vehicles to make them suitable for U.S. drivers. This entailed changing the language in the message center from German to English and changing the speedometer to read miles per hour instead of kilometers per hour.

One item that wasn't changed was the voice prompts from the Bluetooth-enabled vehicles which retain a British accent. All the vehicles for the Fiesta Movement will be equipped with options including keyless entry with push-button start, Ford's "EasyFuel" capless fuel-filler system, and 16" or 17" wheels.

The Fiesta is already the second best selling car in Europe. Ford is hoping its social media marketing scheme will get the attention of Millennials, the next-generation consumer group born between 1979 and 1985. When the "agents" receive their cars late this spring they will have 6 months to drive the cars and complete special missions. The drivers will then share their experiences with the world through social media sites like Facebook, YouTube, and Flickr.

Along with the 100 "agent" Fiestas and additional 40 Fiesta were imported for testing, demonstration, and media use. Ford will try to build as much buzz as possible before the car launches in North America early next year.