Where each one leads
Ford Fiesta
Ahead on none of the like-for-like measures.
Volkswagen Up!
- Against cars of the same age, the Volkswagen Up! comes out better at its first MOT test (passes 8% more often than average) than the Ford Fiesta (passes 5% less often than average).
- Fewer Volkswagen Up! cars in the Netherlands carry an illogical odometer record (1.9% against 2.3%).
- New Volkswagen Up! cars registered in Europe in 2022 average 62 g/km of CO₂ on the WLTP test, against 120 for the Ford Fiesta in 2022.
- Measured by the cars' own fuel meters, the petrol Volkswagen Up! uses 5.7 l/100 km on the road, the Ford Fiesta 6.7.
Only measures that do not depend on how many cars were sold: pass and failure rates against cars of the same age, ratings, fuel use and CO₂. How we compare
At a glance
| Ford Fiesta | Volkswagen Up! | |
|---|---|---|
| Model years in the US safety record | 1988–2019 | — |
| New cars registered in Europe | 3,231,019 (2010–2022) | 874,666 (2011–2022) |
| Licensed in the United Kingdom | 1,296,479 | 131,635 |
| On the road in the Netherlands | 168,800 | 124,300 |
| In traffic in Finland | 31,947 | 2,755 |
EEA new-car registrations (CC BY 4.0) · DVLA licensed vehicles (OGL v3.0) · RDW (CC0) · Traficom (CC BY 4.0) · generations: Wikidata (CC0).
Reliability and problems
| Ford Fiesta | Volkswagen Up! | |
|---|---|---|
| UK MOT first-time pass rate | 66% | 82% |
| … against cars of the same age | −5% | +8% |
| New York safety inspections failed | 2.7% | — |
| … against cars of the same year | +31% | — |
| Illogical odometer records (NL) | 2.3% | 1.9% |
| US owner complaints | 3,176 | — |
| Most complaints about | Power train | — |
| Model year with most complaints | 2011 (730) | — |
| US recall campaigns | 12 | — |
| Manufacturer service bulletins | 744 | — |
| NHTSA defect investigations | 19 | — |
Complaint, recall and bulletin counts grow with the number of cars sold and are not adjusted for it. UK MOT: DVSA anonymised MOT results (OGL v3.0); New York: DMV inspections; complaints, recalls, bulletins and investigations: NHTSA (public domain); odometer: RDW (CC0).
Safety
| Ford Fiesta | Volkswagen Up! | |
|---|---|---|
| NHTSA overall rating | 4★ (2019) | — |
NHTSA New Car Assessment Program, most recent rated model year (public domain).
Fuel, emissions and price
| Ford Fiesta | Volkswagen Up! | |
|---|---|---|
| Official combined fuel use, Canada | 7.6 l/100 km (2019) | — |
| Real-world use in Europe, petrol | 6.7 l/100 km | 5.7 l/100 km |
| Real-world use in Europe, petrol hybrid | 6.3 l/100 km | — |
| Official CO₂ of new cars in Europe | 120 g/km | 62 g/km |
| Average power of new cars in Europe | 80 kW (108 hp) | 56 kW (75 hp) |
| Average mass in running order | 1,204 kg | 1,118 kg |
| Dutch list price when new (median) | €17,945 | €13,560 |
| Average odometer in Finland | 124,000 km | 97,000 km |
Canada: NRCan Fuel Consumption Ratings, most frugal version of the latest year (OGL Canada). Europe: EEA monitoring of new-car CO₂ and on-board fuel meters (OBFCM), CC BY 4.0. Price: RDW catalogue price (CC0). Finland: Traficom (CC BY 4.0).