Ford is likely to abandon the Fiesta name when the company launches its new supermini next year.

Officially the company insists that the 30-year-old model title’s fate is not settled but a well-placed source said “There is a very strong tide running in favour of change because the new car is a radical departure from the existing model. There is a strong argument for a new name with the new start.”

David Lindsay, chairman of Ford’s dealer council and managing director of Lisburn-based Lindsay Cars, expressed his personal view that the Fiesta name should stay.

He said: “I suspect that Ford will have made the decision because these things must be resolved a long way out from a launch.

People know exactly what Fiesta stands for so I would not change it. The name generates a nice warm feeling and has never had a negative influence. But the council does not have a casting vote.”

He revealed: “We would have liked to see the Mondeo name dropped. The new car is ten times better than the name it carries.”

Ford’s European sales and marketing vice president Stephen O’Dell said: “We will figure it out. The car makes the name and not the other way round.”