Ford gives Fiesta buyers $50 gift card for shipping delay Some customers had to wait more than a month for new cars By Alisa Priddle The Detroit News Ford Motor Co. has been issuing $50 gift cards as a thank you to buyers who had to wait more than a month for their new Fiesta because of shipping problems. Ford started taking reservations for the new subcompact car last December after it was unveiled at the Los Angeles auto show. In February, reservations were converted to orders from those who paid a deposit. The automaker had just started shipping the first Fiestas from its Cuautitlan plant in Mexico in late June when a hurricane struck, damaging rail lines. 'Because of early transportation delays, there were anxious customers,' Ford spokeswoman Angie Kozleski said. The rail lines since have been fixed. Shipping times from the plant, which is near Mexico City, have returned to their normal length of about one month, Kozleski said. Ford began sending Mastercards worth $50 to affected customers a few weeks ago, she said. Ford has sold almost 4,400 Fiestas to date, including 3,300 in July. There are another 6,500 to 7,000 in transit, Kozleski said. 'The Fiesta is off to a good start and has high brand awareness with the Fiesta movement,' Mark Fields, president of The Americas, said earlier this month. The Fiesta movement is the marketing campaign. In other news, Ford this past weekend began shipping the new 2011 Ford Edge crossover to dealers from the assembly plant in Oakville, Ont. The new Edge starts at $27,995 including shipping, which is $200 less than the outgoing model. The 2011 Edge has a new 3.5-liter V-6 engine that improves fuel economy to 19 miles per gallon in the city, 27 mpg on the highway. Sales of the Edge through July were up 33 percent to more than 65,000 in the United States. Since the crossover was introduced in late 2006, Ford has sold more than 400,000 Edges as of this past week, the company said. The automaker claims that the Edge has the most sales of any midsize crossover during that timeframe. 