Ford CEO Alan Mullaly told Detroit radio station WJR that the company is reconsidering whether to bring its smallest car to the U.S. market. Ford officially introduced the second-generation Ka last week at the Paris Motor Show and up until now has not planned to offer the car in the U.S. The Ka is much smaller than even the Fiesta that will arrive in early 2010. The rising demand for small cars in the U.S. market has prompted Ford to reconsider its marketing plans for the Ka. The Ka is available in Europe with a choice of 1.2L gas or 1.3L diesel engines. If Ford does decide to bring the Ka to the U.S., it likely wouldn't arrive before 2010 or '11 at the earliest. The one thing that could make help the Ka arrive earlier would be if federal regulators grant a waiver to allow automakers to temporarily bring in small cars that don't meet current U.S. regulations until they can be modified. If that were to happen, the Ka could arrive sooner. The diesel Ka with a start stop system is rated at 60.3 mpg (U.S.) in Europe.
Information found athttp://www.autobloggreen.com
Officially Official: Ford debuts all-new Ka
Posted Aug 1st 2008 10:29AM by John Neff
Click above to view high-res gallery of the 2009 Ford Ka
Sure, you've these pics before (though not in high-res), but Ford has now officially revealed its all-new Ka that will be the automaker's big debut at the 2008 Paris Motor Show in October this year. Unfortunately, they neglected to release any details about the car, instead throwing out a bunch adjectives like "fresh, funky and fun" and "fashionable, modern" and "youthful and cheeky". None of those confirm what engines will be offered or what kind of fuel economy the car achieves. We do know the Ka will share its underpinnings with the Fiat 500 and be built in the same factory in Poland, so it would be safe to assume that Ford's "cheeky" hatch will use similarly high quality materials and be built tight as a drum, as well. Engine choices are presumed to be 1.4L and 1.6L petrol powerplants and a 1.6L diesel, and a hot ST version using the 500's turbo 1.4L is rumored to be arriving later.
Thanks to the high-res images in the gallery below, we can now inspect the Ka's design inside and out. Its cockpit is very unique, with a number of different textures and contrasting colors to keep it "fresh, funky and fun." Our one worry is how far up the center console the radio has been placed. With those eency-weency buttons, it could be difficult to operate on the move. The exterior is defined by Ford of Europe's now familiar 'Kinetic Design' language, and suits the tiny three-door well. Its proportioned so that the tiny wheels aren't totally overcome by the car's visual mass, and the big headlights that dominate the front fenders in conjunction with the blacked out grille give the Ka an expressive face. Would you say the Ka's a winner, or more importantly, would you consider purchasing it if Ford chose to sell it in the U.S. one day?
Information found at http://www.autoblog.com
Ford CEO: Company assessing tiny car for US
Oct. 6, 2008 01:08 PM The Associated Press
AP Photo/Remy de la Mauviniere:
Ford decided to give the Ka another look due to
high fuel prices pushing up demand for small cars
and the response to introduction of the Fiesta subcompact.
DETROIT - Rising demand for small cars has pushed Ford Motor Co. to revisit its decision not to bring the tiny European Ka model to the United States, Ford's chief executive said Monday.
"We're assessing that right now," CEO Alan Mulally told a Detroit radio station, adding that a lot of people share the opinion that Ford should sell the Ka in the U.S.
A new version of the Ka was unveiled last week at the Paris Motor Show. It will be launched in major European markets by late this year or early 2009.
The Ka is far smaller than the Focus, which currently is Dearborn-based Ford's only U.S. compact car. Focus sales are up 24 percent through September, even though the U.S. auto market is down nearly 13 percent for the year.
Mulally said on WJR-AM's "Paul W. Smith Show" that Ford decided to give the Ka another look due to high fuel prices pushing up demand for small cars and the response to introduction of the Fiesta subcompact. Ford had said previously it wouldn't bring the Ka, sold mostly in Europe, to the U.S. because the markets are different, with European cities having more congestion and narrower roads than U.S. cities.
Ford plans to start selling the Fiesta global subcompact and the European version of the Focus in the U.S. in 2010, boosting its array of small cars as the U.S. market continues to shift away from trucks and sport utility vehicles.
U.S. small car sales overall are up 6 percent for the first nine months of the year, while truck sales are off 21 percent, according to Autodata Corp.
Ford spokesman Said Deep said the company is exploring whether or not Americans will accept a car that's even smaller than the new Fiesta, which the industry calls a "B" segment car. B cars are the size of a Toyota Yaris or Honda Fit, which now are selling well in the U.S. Fit sales are up 54 percent through September, while Yaris sales have risen 29 percent.
"Are people willing to go smaller than that?" Deep asked. "That's a big unknown, and I think that's what's got to be determined."
A diesel version of the Ka gets 42 miles per gallon of fuel in combined city-highway driving under U.S. testing standards, Deep said, not much more than a gasoline-powered Fiesta will get in the U.S.
"There's not a dramatic difference in them to kind of give up the comfort package," he said.
The only vehicle the size of a Ka in the U.S. is Daimler AG's Smart Fortwo, a super-small car that has proved popular in the face of gasoline rising to around $4 per gallon. Smart has sold 18,156 of the models through September.
The new Ka has not yet been given a safety rating in Europe. A model tested in 2000 received a three-star crash test rating out of five stars from the Brussels-based Euro NCAP, an agency that assesses cars sold in Europe. Three stars is considered low under the group's standards.
Ford spokesman Finn Thomasen said safety results for the new model will come out next month, and he anticipates it will be better than the previous model.
Ford is looking to sell well-equipped, high-quality small cars in an effort to make up revenue lost when high-profit truck and SUV sales tanked. Mulally said Ford will continue to adjust its factory capacity to match market demand. Overall, its sales are off 17 percent through September.
"None of us have seen a slowdown like we're going through right now," he said.
But he told Detroit station WWJ-AM that the $700 billion bailout of the financial industry is the right move to help stabilize home prices and deal with bad mortgages. The recent freeze in the credit markets has prevented some buyers from being able to get car financing as well.
Despite the deteriorating economy worldwide, Mulally said he's still confident Ford will survive the downturn.
"We knew this was going to get worse before it got better," he said. "And we went to the markets to borrow the appropriate amount of cash to fund our transformation."
Ford has burned through nearly $11 billion of its cash stockpile in the past year and reported a second-quarter loss of $8.7 billion. The loss included $8 billion worth of write-offs because tumbling truck and SUV sales decreased the value of Ford's North American truck plants and Ford Motor Credit Co.'s lease portfolio. The company has $25 billion in long-term debt.
Ford shares were down 28 cents, or 6.9 percent, to $3.77 in Monday morning trading amid a broader market decline.
Information found at http://www.azcentral.com
New Ford Ka to Debut at the Paris Motor Show; Diesel Engine Option
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| The 2008 Ford Ka. |
The new Ford Ka city car will make its global debut at the 2008 Paris Motor Show in October. The new Ka replaces the original Ka, which was launched at the Paris Motor Show in 1996. Production of the new Ford Ka commences in the autumn of 2008, and the vehicle will go on sale in most major European markets in late 2008/early 2009.
The new Ka uses two economical, low-emission engines: a 1.2-liter 68 hp (51 kW) Duratec gasoline engine and, for the first time on Ka, a 1.3-liter 74 hp (55 kW) Duratorq TDCi turbodiesel. Both gasoline and diesel models offer sub-120 g/km CO2 emissions.
The 1.2-liter gasoline model, which is expected to be the largest seller in the new range, has cut fuel consumption by 21% compared to the previous 1.3-liter Ka. The diesel model improves economy still further, achieving a combined fuel consumption of 4.2 liters/100km (56 mpg US).
The structural core of the Ka is the bodyshell, developed to provide a strong, stable crash structure to protect passengers in case of an accident. The bodyshell is combined with an Intelligent Protection System (IPS), which integrates airbags, restraint systems and seating technologies to provide a highly effective occupant safety system.
The new Ford Ka was developed as part of a common project with Fiat. The vehicle is produced at the modern Fiat manufacturing plant in Tychy, Poland, sharing the production line with the Fiat 500 model.
After the launch of the original Ford Ka, sales took off across Europe, with a total of more than 1,460,000 vehicles produced. In the UK alone, the Ka found 500,000 customers, and it has been its segment leader since 2000.
Based on Ford research, Ka customers have the highest customer brand loyalty of any Ford model.
Information found at http://www.greencarcongress.com