The Ford Fiesta will grow in size when it is redesigned for the 2018 model year, new spy photographs show.

The Fiesta has been criticized for a cramped interior relative to its competitors, and the upcoming redesign aims to address that and other concerns.

Sources have said the Fiesta, along with the 2018 Focus, likely will lose the dual-clutch transmission that has damaged Ford’s third-party quality ratings in recent years.

The Fiesta hatchback spotted this week has a longer wheelbase and a new silhouette with a nose that looks less rounded than that of the current model. It’s expected to arrive in the U.S. by mid-2017. The taillights move from a vertical orientation to a horizontal look that extends onto the tailgate and gives the car a wider look.

The seventh generation of the Fiesta will mark the first full redesign for Ford’s smallest U.S. car since the 2009 model year. A 2013 freshening included new front and rear fascia.

First images of all new 2017 Ford Fiesta revealed. Like it?

So this is it: the latest version of Britain’s best-selling car, the Ford Fiesta. The car that has moved 17 million copies since it launched in the mid-1970s.

This red one’s an ST-Line. It’s one of four variants Ford revealed at tonight’s glitzy launch event. Spoilers, skirts and sports suspension – expect the next ST-proper to look like this but more so.

Of course it’s Fiestas like the brown, five-door Titanium that most will buy. OK possibly not in brown. But those not-too-sporty mid-to-upper trims are where Ford does the bulk of its trade. And the claim is that it now shows a whole lot of higher technology and better quality.

Because the small-car market is diversifying, and because premium brands’ small-car sales rose 25 per cent in the past year alone, Ford also has Fiestas aimed at answering those questions. The chunky-looking one is called the Fiesta ‘Active’ – a pseudo-crossover with body-cladding, roof-rails and elevated ride-height. That’s set to join the line-up soon after launch. The white one is a super-posh Vignale, which isn’t only about the lux interior but a better ‘customer experience’ from the dealer at both sales and service time.

Available with three- or five-doors, the new Fiesta is appreciably bigger than the car it replaces. Inside, the old Fiesta’s interior was designed to ape a technology that, by the time it was released, didn’t really exist – a mobile phone with actual, physical buttons.

The new one gets a floating centre-screen (8in in these cars) running SYNC3 – the latest version of Ford’s much-maligned infotainment software. This time the screen is said to be far more responsive ‘with the highest resolution in the industry’. It runs greatly smarter voice-recognition abilities too. The screen setup cuts some 20 hard-buttons out of the old car’s total. The optional stereo is by B&O and has many watts.

Ford’s calling the Fiesta the “world’s most technologically advanced small car”. Sensors monitor the path ahead as far away as 130 metres for the collision mitigation system – that’s 20 times further than the old one. They can detect pedestrians as well as vehicles.

More sensors around the car give it myriad more ways to assist you. On the menu are – deep breath – blind-spot monitoring, lane-keeping assist (not just lane departure warning, note), blind-spot warning, cross-traffic warning when reversing, active parking with perpendicular capability, and adaptive cruise control. None of them new, but it’s a list that’s unique among superminis.

Most people will go for more expensive trim levels (top-spec Titanium accounts for nearly half of Fiestas sold so far this year), so even Style and Zetec are bound to be well equipped. Now Ford has the Ka+ to do its budget-bidding, it doesn’t need to cheapen the Fiesta.

Which is why the designers get very aerated about the quality of the cabin materials. The words ‘premium’, ‘upscale’ and ‘craftsmanship’ keep cropping up. The Vignale’s cabin features a double-stitched dash top, and the same piece is soft-touch on the rest of the range. A second smaller colour screen sits between the speedo and rev-counter.

The engine line-up is a familiar one, but improved. And that’s fine. Ford does good engines. There’s the 1.0-litre, three-cylinder EcoBoost with 100, 125 or 140PS. To save fuel, it features the world’s first cylinder deactivation on a three-cylinder. A 1.5-litre diesel comes in two versions, the ‘high-power’ one topping out 120PS. The new entry-level motor is a 1.1-litre triple (so-long ancient 1.25). That engine gets a five-speed manual, while the EcoBoost gets a new manual gearbox, a six-speeder at last, or an auto.

The outgoing Fiesta is the best car in its class when it comes to the business of driving, years after its launch. Ford is candid that the new car is a ‘fine-tuned’ development, not an all-new start. The claim is that the new one delivers more grip (thanks to a wider track) and better steering feel. Disc brakes at the back mean, they say, the Fiesta can stop in similar distance to a 997-era 911.

But at the same time it’s said to be comfier. Ride quality is said to be better. So is refinement, to the point where Ford says it’s the quietest car in its class.

As to the design, the team says it “listened to the customers” who said they love the existing car. Course they do, they bought one. So the design of the new car hasn’t exactly shaken things up. But it’s a neat job, if in the case of the sill-extended ST-Line, a little porky looking in the flesh. That’s just our opinion. YMMV. It’ll go on sale next June. In the meantime, tell us what you think below.

The Ford Fiesta Active is the first Fiesta crossover model, combining rugged SUV-inspired styling that includes raised ride-height, roof bars and additional cladding; hatchback practicality; and true Fiesta driving dynamics.

Ford Fiesta Active is further differentiated by a raised suspension profile, with dark cladding flowing from the front bumper lip, through the wheel arches and side profile to the rear. A hexagonal grille design features along with a dark element for the liftgate licence plate area, contrast painted roof, and roof bars, all of which contribute to a more rugged, versatile feel.

A three-cylinder engine, many driving modes... the Ford Fiesta ST gets techy

It’s the brand new Ford Fiesta ST. And similar though it may look to the car it replaces, it really is brand new beneath. And it’s exhibiting quite a philosophy change.

The current ST is a superb little hot hatchback that keeps things simple, the turbocharger on its engine the only notable nod to ‘technology’.

Its replacement, however, is different. Out goes a 1.6-litre four-cylinder engine, replaced by a 1.5-litre three-cylinder turbo petrol with 197bhp and 214lb ft.

That makes it exactly as powerful as the Fiesta ST200, and its 6.7sec 0-62mph time is identical, too. But the way the performance feels could be quite different.

The engine is an all-new unit in Ford’s Ecoboost range, and it’s the first three-cylinder we’ve seen in a bona fide hot hatch. As if that’s not enough, it can run on two cylinders too, deactivating one under light throttle loads. The idea, as ever with these systems, is that it de- and reactivates quick enough to never affect performance.

Lots of clever stuff like direct fuel injection and twin-independent variable cam timing help make the engine very efficient, says Ford, with claimed CO2 emissions of 114g/km. Although by the time the new Fiesta ST launches, that will no longer secure a bargain car tax rate, and you’ll be paying £140 a year in the UK. Ford does claim (as yet unspecified) improvements in fuel economy, though.

While the engine still drives the front wheels through a manual gearbox, the next big piece of news concerns driving modes. The outgoing Fiesta ST simply has a stability control button, so you can drive with it on, off, or in an intermediate ‘sport’ level.

Now, a drive select system will allow Normal, Sport and Track modes for the steering, engine, stability control and even engine noise, with something called Electronic Sound Enhancement now fitted as standard. Purists will be further upset with 18-inch alloys coming as standard (the old ST is already rather firm on 17s).

There’ll be all manner of personalisation options, including different styling packs and the new Liquid Blue colour, seen here. Happily, the old ST’s Recaro seats remain, and you can have them pointing towards a fancy touchscreen and a posh B&O stereo.

All told, then, it’s a far more multifaceted car than the unashamedly old-school ST it replaces. The aim, we’re told, is for the new Fiesta ST to “deliver a broader appeal for an even wider range of car-buyers”. As such, you can buy three- and five-door versions.

Worried they’ve messed too much with the recipe? Or are you excited by the idea of a funky little three-cylinder hatchback with oodles of tech? Let us know below.

We’ll also bring you more information when we see the car for real at next month’s Geneva motor show…

Geek out on how the Fiesta ST's new tech makes it a hot hatch hero

1. The aero is real

   The front chin, rear spoiler and rear diffuser do actually cut lift, even if not to the point where lift goes negative – ie downforce.
   
   

2. Don't fret over the wheel options

   The standard wheel is a 17, the optional an 18. But Leo Roeks, head of Ford Performance in Europe and the man most in charge of the ST’s development, says they drove so similarly most people won’t be able to tell the difference. Both wear the same Michelin Pilot Supersport tyre type.
   
   

3. You want the Performance Pack

   This brings you the limited-slip differential, made by motorsports people Quaife. Plus shift-up lights and launch control. That’s £850 and sounds to us like a bargain because LSDs are expensive pieces of mechanical engineering, and this one is calibrated beautifully so the ST spits itself out of tight corners on full power with nary a trace of understeer.
   
   

4. The springs are bananas

   Ford has invented a new kind of spring for the rear suspension. It’s slightly banana-shaped, so when it’s compressed it exerts a sideways force. Normally with a torsion-beam suspension, the sideways force on the outer tyre causes the beam to move in its bushes, slightly steering the back end of the car in an inconsistent way. That mucks up steering precision. As a countermeasure, sporty cars get stiff bushes, which is bad for comfort. These new springs are oriented in the chassis so that when the car begins to roll in a corner and the outer spring is compressed, that spring pushes back against the wheel’s lateral force, keeping the wheels pointing straighter. So the new arrangement lets the bushes be tuned softer for better comfort, while the steering precision remains.
   
   

5. It's got canny dampers

   The dampers aren’t adaptive, and pressing the sport button doesn’t change them at all. But they do a have an unusual characteristic. In big-stroke relatively slow movements – body control when you’re going for it – they’re fairly firm. But for quick short movements they’re relatively soft, helping the ride.
   
   

6. The steering is very positive

   The steering ratio is very direct – your smallest hand movements summon vigorous direction change. On some cars that’s a bad idea, because without precise steering, it feels twitchy and inconsistent and you lose confidence. After a brief acclimatisation the ST is just fine. You revel in the quick answers, but it all feels natural. And it grips more, not least because of better tyres and a 48mm wider front track.
   
   

7. It all works together

   All these bits of chassis geekery harmonise beautifully. Most sporty-car suspension engineers would want stiff dampers even in the small-stroke high-frequency events, because that quells roll changes, improving steering precision. (It means that even for a small change in steering wheel angle, you get a change in car direction, rather than wasting the initial impetus on a roll-angle change.) The ST instead draws better steering precision from its new rear suspension, thanks to those clever springs. So again it doesn’t need such firm high-frequency damping. It’s been set up on relatively soft springs and bushes, and its short-amplitude damping is more pliant too. That means better road noise suppression and less ride harshness. And the quick steering makes it agile.
   
   

8. It's got a clever engine

   The headline tech feature of the new three-pot engine is the cylinder cutoff system. When you’re light on the gas this allows it to run on just two of the three. You never feel the join, by the way, but the economy improvement is noticeable. Still, it’s a performance engine too. It’s got an oil cooler for hard work, and both port and direct injection to hose in the fuel when you need power.
   
   

9. It sounds good, too

   There’s less of the twittery warble we’ve come to expect from little three-cylinder engines. It’s more purposeful, but still with character. There’s a bit of sound enhancement through the speakers, but it’s ‘live’ sound played through filters to get the best notes – not false synthesis. There’s also a flap in the exhaust. Sport mode opens the flap and turns up the enhancement too. And it brings over-run pops, but not to the embarrassing degree some more juvenile rivals fire at you.
   
   

10. It's not the most powerful Fiesta, but it is faster than before

    The quoted power output is the same as the old Fiesta ST200. But the ST200 had access to overboost nearly all the time, so it made 215PS or 212bhp. And the new car is 20kg heavier thanks mostly to a stronger body shell. Even so the new one accelerates faster because it gets it to the road better. Thank the LSD and the grippier tyres and the launch control.