It's still a few years away from reaching America, but the all-new 2009 Ford Fiesta, Ford's newest global subcompact, is now in production.

Assembly of the new Fiesta began today at Ford's factory in Cologne, Germany, the first of several plants worldwide expected to build the car.  Ford recently invested nearly €455 million ($673 million) in retooling the plant, allowing it to build as many as 1900 Fiestas each day.

Cologne will be the sole source of European-market Fiestas until the plant in Valencia, Spain, comes on-line in January 2009.  Ford also plans on building the Fiesta in China, Thailand, and Mexico - the latter being home to 2010 models destined for the U.S.