Ford Fiesta successor linked to Ford’s WRC return

Ford will introduce a new generation of showroom models alongside vehicles it will use in the World Rally Championship (WRC), which it announced it would return to at Rally Italia Sardegna in Italy on Thursday (October 1, 2026).

Rally Italia Sardegna is the final round of this year’s WRC, which will see one of three Toyota drivers crowned champion after the Japanese brand wrapped up the manufacturers’ title at the previous round in Chile.

Ford of Europe president Jim Baumbick announced the Blue Oval's return to the WRC alongside Ford Racing boss Mark Rushbrook, saying the brand will use its rally program to develop its next generation of 'engaging-to-drive' road cars.

It comes as a set of WRC regulation changes from 2027 opens up more possibilities for automakers, with Toyota using the opportunity to develop what’s speculated to be the return of the Celica to showrooms.

Ford will officially return to the WRC in 2028, but has said it will introduce a completely new model to the WRC in 2029, which it said will take inspiration from an upcoming European passenger vehicle. The timing coincides with an expected return for the Fiesta, or a similarly sized 'super-mini' (light-class) model with a new name.

The US auto giant is looking to rejuvenate its European lineup after several product misfires, including the electric Ford Capri and the electric Explorer.

It has also been criticised by enthusiasts for dropping its iconic Fiesta and Focus models, both of which were used in its previous rallying campaigns, and which were last sold in Australia in 2022.

Rivals Hyundai and Toyota, both of which currently compete in the WRC, have lured some of that enthusiast base away from Ford, with Hyundai’s N and Toyota’s Gazoo Racing (GR) sub-brands offering road-going versions of its WRC racers in Ford’s absence.

In August 2025, Bill Ford, the chair of the company and the great-grandson of its founder Henry Ford, said the US automaker's focus on pickups and SUVs had not worked in every market, including rally-centric Europe.

“On the passenger car side, we realise we’re not as robust as we need to be,” Mr Ford told Autocar. “We’re working on our future strategy right now. But I think you’ll be surprised – pleasantly surprised – by what’s coming.”

Now, it appears some of what Mr Ford was teasing will come to light through the company’s rallying push, as explained by Mr Baumbick.

“We’re not in a position to talk about future product plans,” Mr Baumbick told evo, which asked Ford's Europe boss about future model lines bearing the famed ST and RS performance monikers that leveraged Ford’s extensive rallying history.

“Take a look at how serious we are about bringing race and road to life for customers in a whole wide range of capabilities... we will be congruent with that strategy.”

Ford has already confirmed it is working on what appears to be a Fiesta successor in an electric-vehicle tie-up with Renault, with the Renault 5 E-Tech electric hatch (currently not sold in Australia) being a potential donor model.

A road-going EV could compete in the WRC with a different powertrain under the category’s new rules.

The automaker has not named its Fiesta successor, but the general manager of passenger cars for Ford of Europe, Christian Weingartner, told Auto Express in August: “It's very clear that if you talk ‘race to road’, that we want to have really capable vehicles.

“To be credible and authentic, there needs to be some kind of performance series of our vehicles; that's what we’ve got to have."

Ford already strongly links its racing and production car programs, with arguably the most comprehensive motorsport department of any automaker.

Its current competition portfolio includes, among others, Formula 1 with Red Bull, sports car racing with Australian driver Matt Campbell, as well as staple series including NASCAR in the US. It won this year’s famous Pikes Peak hill climb with an electric Mustang.

In Australia, Ford has already clinched the 2026 Supercars manufacturers’ championship with the Mustang, well ahead of the Bathurst 1000 on Sunday, October 11.

And the Mustang GTD, which is sadly not officially available in Australia, is a street-legal left-hand drive version of the Mustang GT3 competition car.

Ford boss Jim Farley has previously said the company will exploit its iconic nameplates as sub-brands, with the Raptor name used on its Dakar off-road racer, as well as the F-150 pickup, Bronco SUV, and Ranger ute in showrooms.

The brand’s European boss reiterated the integral part that competition will play in Ford’s model lineup.

“That will be a virtuous circle within our portfolio; making our products better from rally, learning insights from off-road and on-road family members, back into rally,” said Mr Baumbick, as reported by Autocar.

“We think it’s almost like it feeds itself. It’s a virtuous circle of learning and capability. It underpins what is core to our brand. We would never take the easy route; we’re not just trying to cash in a heritage cheque.

“We know based on our experience in all our racing that we’re doing globally, that we can make these products better as we get that flywheel rolling, as we position the future European passenger vehicle portfolio.”

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