British driving school orders batch of new Ford Fiestas

AA’s head of group fleet Sarah Dopson (L), with Ford's Paul Henderson The award-winning Ford Fiesta 1.0-litre EcoBoost will help thousands of new British drivers onto the road as it joins the 2,000-strong fleet of the AA Driving School. AA Driving School’s long-standing exclusive deal with Ford is to supply 3,500 cars a year, a mix of Focus and Fiesta models. The company believes the frugal yet potent 1.0-litre EcoBoost engine in the Ford Fiesta will prove a major attraction to instructors and learner drivers alike.
"The split between Focus and Fiesta has been roughly 50/50, but we anticipate a growth of 12 per cent in Fiesta in 2013 with the introduction of the 1.0-litre EcoBoost," said Sarah Dopson, the AA’s head of group fleet. “We have had a lot of positive feedback from our instructors about the Fiesta, and of course they are attracted by the fuel economy offered by the 1.0-litre EcoBoost.
“Ford has been the sole supplier to AA Driving School since 1998, and we are very pleased that a relationship which works so well for both parties is to continue.”
The Fiesta model most favoured by the AADS instructors is the 1.0-litre 125PS Titanium, which offers a combined-cycle fuel consumption figure of 65.7mpg.
Paul Henderson, direct sales manager for Ford of Britain, said: "The 1.0 EcoBoost Fiesta is a remarkably fuel efficient vehicle and yet it has all the power you might expect of a car equipped with a larger engine. It is flexible, easy to control and is ideal for the learner driver, too, so it is no surprise to see this model reinforcing and driving forward Ford’s long association with the AA Driving School."