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Fiesta grabs Women's World Car of the Year prize

THE FORD FIESTA 1.0 Ecoboost has been crowned the Women’s World Car of the Year 2013. A panel of 18 women judged the car on factors such as colour, sex appeal and ease of driving. Beating off competition from Audi and Range Rover, the Fiesta was praised by the all-women panel and the awards chairman Sandy Myhre said: ‘It was clear from the outset the Fiesta struck a chord with our panel of women as it has features which clearly chime with the needs of female drivers.’ Barb Samardzich, chief operating officer, Ford of Europe, said: ‘The success of the new Fiesta, both in terms of this award and impressive sales, has been achieved with a car which is sharp looking, better connected and even more fuel efficient and fun-to-drive.’

Moody's boosts Ford's credit rating

Moody's Investors Service upgraded Ford Motor Co.'s debt to investment grade, culminating the automaker's six-year struggle to win back the Blue Oval and other assets mortgaged in 2006. Moody's is the second agency to upgrade Ford's debt from junk status, paving the way for the company to recover assets it mortgaged in 2006 to stave off bankruptcy. The company raised $23.5 billion in a move that allowed it to avoid government bailouts or bankruptcy when the industry collapsed in 2008.

Tata ramps up production of Nano to boost slow sales

Tata is cranking up supply of the Nano in India to counter sluggish sales. Until now, supply has been pretty limited with sales most months struggling to break beyond four figures; hardly the breakthrough expected from the widely hyped cheapest car in the world. A new plant in Sanand recently came on stream and it has a capacity of 250,000 cars a year.