Classic Ford Lincoln Mercury - Mentor, OH

Ford has just released the EPA numbers for its long-awaited and much-hyped 2011 Fiesta: The subcompact with a six-speed automatic "PowerShift" transmission is rated at 29 mpg...

DETROIT — Ford has just released the EPA numbers for its long-awaited and much-hyped 2011 Fiesta: The subcompact with a six-speed automatic "PowerShift" transmission is rated at 29 mpg city and 40 mpg on the highway.

That is a significant improvement over direct competitors such as the Honda Fit and Toyota Yaris. Or it is at least if one looks only at the highway number, where the Ford is 4-5 mpg better than the Japanese cars. On EPA's city test, all three cars score within 1 mpg.

With the five-speed manual, the Fiesta's numbers drop a bit to 28/37 mpg.

It might achieve higher fuel economy than its direct competitors but it might not do better than the upcoming Chevrolet Cruze, at least in the fuel-economy-special Eco version of the Chevy.

Chevrolet says that the Cruze Eco (with a six-speed manual) will achieve 40 mpg on the highway. The Cruze is larger than the Fiesta. It's in the compact class compared to the Ford's subcompact classification. In fact, it's larger than the Fiesta's big brother, the Focus. Both get from zero to 60 mph in about 10 seconds.