Ford_News
09-11-2012, 03:12 PM
Filed under: Budget (http://www.autoblog.com/category/economy/), Hatchback (http://www.autoblog.com/category/hatchbacks/), Ford (http://www.autoblog.com/category/ford/)
http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2012/09/09-ford-start-concept-press.jpg (http://www.autoblog.com/photos/ford-start-concept)
We haven't talked about (http://www.autoblog.com/2010/04/22/ford-start-concept-busts-out-of-beijing/) or seen (http://www.autoblog.com/2010/07/07/ford-start-concept-gives-informal-socal-show-an-eco-boost/) the Ford Start Concept (http://www.autoblog.com/tag/ford+start+concept/) in some time, but it's starting to seem like something similar to this car might become a reality soon. Automotive News reports that Ford (http://www.autoblog.com/ford/) CEO Alan Mulally (http://www.autoblog.com/tag/alan+mulally/) says his company is looking at adding a small, value-priced B-segment car slotting in below the Ford Fiesta (http://www.autoblog.com/ford/fiesta/), and we can't help but think of how well Ford's 2010 concept would fill this spot.
This unnamed sub-Fiesta model would likely take the place of the Ford Ka (http://www.autoblog.com/tag/ford+ka/) minicar, and it would ride on the same platform as the Fiesta instead of being built by Fiat (http://www.autoblog.com/fiat/) on the Fiat 500 (http://www.autoblog.com/fiat/500/) platform like the current Ka. The goal of such a car would obviously be to offer a lower-priced car than the Fiesta to help Ford expand in emerging global markets. The article says the this new model would be a global car, but there is no indication as to whether it would ever be offered in North America. There does seem to be a growing market for small cars in this market as evident by the Fiat 500, Scion iQ (http://www.autoblog.com/scion/iq/) and Chevrolet Spark (http://www.autoblog.com/chevrolet/spark/), but the jury remains out on their long-term sales prospects. Mulally confirmed to Automotive News that if such a car came to fruition, it would definitely wear Ford's iconic Blue Oval rather than branding it with a lower-dollar nameplate like Renault (http://www.autoblog.com/category/renault/) currently does with Dacia (http://www.autoblog.com/tag/dacia/) and Nissan (http://www.autoblog.com/nissan) is planning to do with its revived Datsun brand (http://www.autoblog.com/2012/03/20/nissan-confirms-return-of-datsun/).
Like the Start Concept, Ford's new value model would almost certainly feature the new 1.0-liter three-cylinder EcoBoost (http://www.autoblog.com/tag/ecoboost/) in its powertrain lineup. This engine is already available in the larger Ford Focus (http://www.autoblog.com/ford/focus/) in other markets (we had a chance to take for a quick spin back in July (http://www.autoblog.com/2012/07/31/2012-ford-focus-1-0-liter-ecoboost-quick-spin-review/)), and Ford is understood to be evaluating the powerplant for possible North American consumption.Mulally says Ford pondering sub-Fiesta small car for emerging markets (http://www.autoblog.com/2012/09/11/mulally-says-ford-pondering-sub-fiesta-small-car-for-emerging-ma/) originally appeared on Autoblog (http://www.autoblog.com) on Tue, 11 Sep 2012 16:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds (http://www.mnfords.com/rss-term-of-use/).
Permalink (http://www.autoblog.com/2012/09/11/mulally-says-ford-pondering-sub-fiesta-small-car-for-emerging-ma/) | Email this (http://www.autoblog.com/forward/20320392/) | Comments (http://www.autoblog.com/2012/09/11/mulally-says-ford-pondering-sub-fiesta-small-car-for-emerging-ma/#comments)
More... (http://www.autoblog.com/2012/09/11/mulally-says-ford-pondering-sub-fiesta-small-car-for-emerging-ma/)
http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2012/09/09-ford-start-concept-press.jpg (http://www.autoblog.com/photos/ford-start-concept)
We haven't talked about (http://www.autoblog.com/2010/04/22/ford-start-concept-busts-out-of-beijing/) or seen (http://www.autoblog.com/2010/07/07/ford-start-concept-gives-informal-socal-show-an-eco-boost/) the Ford Start Concept (http://www.autoblog.com/tag/ford+start+concept/) in some time, but it's starting to seem like something similar to this car might become a reality soon. Automotive News reports that Ford (http://www.autoblog.com/ford/) CEO Alan Mulally (http://www.autoblog.com/tag/alan+mulally/) says his company is looking at adding a small, value-priced B-segment car slotting in below the Ford Fiesta (http://www.autoblog.com/ford/fiesta/), and we can't help but think of how well Ford's 2010 concept would fill this spot.
This unnamed sub-Fiesta model would likely take the place of the Ford Ka (http://www.autoblog.com/tag/ford+ka/) minicar, and it would ride on the same platform as the Fiesta instead of being built by Fiat (http://www.autoblog.com/fiat/) on the Fiat 500 (http://www.autoblog.com/fiat/500/) platform like the current Ka. The goal of such a car would obviously be to offer a lower-priced car than the Fiesta to help Ford expand in emerging global markets. The article says the this new model would be a global car, but there is no indication as to whether it would ever be offered in North America. There does seem to be a growing market for small cars in this market as evident by the Fiat 500, Scion iQ (http://www.autoblog.com/scion/iq/) and Chevrolet Spark (http://www.autoblog.com/chevrolet/spark/), but the jury remains out on their long-term sales prospects. Mulally confirmed to Automotive News that if such a car came to fruition, it would definitely wear Ford's iconic Blue Oval rather than branding it with a lower-dollar nameplate like Renault (http://www.autoblog.com/category/renault/) currently does with Dacia (http://www.autoblog.com/tag/dacia/) and Nissan (http://www.autoblog.com/nissan) is planning to do with its revived Datsun brand (http://www.autoblog.com/2012/03/20/nissan-confirms-return-of-datsun/).
Like the Start Concept, Ford's new value model would almost certainly feature the new 1.0-liter three-cylinder EcoBoost (http://www.autoblog.com/tag/ecoboost/) in its powertrain lineup. This engine is already available in the larger Ford Focus (http://www.autoblog.com/ford/focus/) in other markets (we had a chance to take for a quick spin back in July (http://www.autoblog.com/2012/07/31/2012-ford-focus-1-0-liter-ecoboost-quick-spin-review/)), and Ford is understood to be evaluating the powerplant for possible North American consumption.Mulally says Ford pondering sub-Fiesta small car for emerging markets (http://www.autoblog.com/2012/09/11/mulally-says-ford-pondering-sub-fiesta-small-car-for-emerging-ma/) originally appeared on Autoblog (http://www.autoblog.com) on Tue, 11 Sep 2012 16:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds (http://www.mnfords.com/rss-term-of-use/).
Permalink (http://www.autoblog.com/2012/09/11/mulally-says-ford-pondering-sub-fiesta-small-car-for-emerging-ma/) | Email this (http://www.autoblog.com/forward/20320392/) | Comments (http://www.autoblog.com/2012/09/11/mulally-says-ford-pondering-sub-fiesta-small-car-for-emerging-ma/#comments)
More... (http://www.autoblog.com/2012/09/11/mulally-says-ford-pondering-sub-fiesta-small-car-for-emerging-ma/)