I never thought this day would come, but I am realizing that a US car maker has actually made a few cars that I don’t hate. Specifically the Ford Edge, Ford Fusion and forthcoming 2011 Ford Fiesta. The Fiesta is getting a lot of buzz right now, and I think it may actually be deserved.

I had long since given up on any US offerings from the “not so big 3″. Up until now they have utterly failed to excite any of my senses. There are a few holdouts from years past, but they aren’t the mass market cars that normal people can afford or that are practical for everyday life. That being said, Ford looks positioned to be rather successful in the coming years as both GM and Chrysler spiral ever downwards towards their inevitable end.

Now all Ford needs to do is embrace clean diesel technology with both of these cars and I may line up to buy one. Unfortunately, Ford doesn’t seem to planning to offer either of these with a fuel-sipping diesel. The european market Fiesta ECOnetic, with the fantastic little diesel engine gets 65 MPG! 65! That easily best the fuel economy of a hybrid drive system like in the Toyota Prius or forthcoming Honda Insight without the environmentally unsound use of NiMH batteries. While the diesel engine equipped Fiesta is certainly no rocket ship (it only has 88 HP), it would get me back and forth to work on 1/2 of a gallon of gasoline!

So, Ford, wake up! Don’t let your middle-America biased, all placating, uninspired market research teams and penny-pinching accountants turn your otherwise exciting products into something resembling your offerings from the past quarter century. Do something bold, be a leader. Offer the American people a car that they don’t know they want! Show them that you are capable of designing a good looking, fun to drive car that is environmentally sound. Market them as vehicles that will decrease American independence on foreign oil and help free us from it’s shackles. Do this and I think you will begin to see more Ford’s on the road than at any time since the Model-T era.