Auto Design

PREMIERE AT THE PARIS MOTOR SHOW IN OCTOBER.

As the count down to the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in China is coming to a close, the automotive industry – just back from the London Motor Show – has launched its count-down for the introduction of a wave of new cars at the Paris “Mondial de l’Automobile” Motor Show opening its gates to the public at large on October 4^th.

First on August 1^st to unveil its new baby is Ford.

The look of its new KA developed and engineered with the co-operation of Fiat and Italdesign-Giugiaro can now be seen in the first official pictures. The car is build in Poland on the industrial platform of the Fiat Panda and Cinquecento but its looks share nothing with the Italian rivals. The new KA looks charming and  attractive, a sort of miniature Fiesta but with a design and a personality of its own.

It comes with the bold trapezoidal lower grille, trendy large headlamps ad integrated fog-lamps. The cars looks tall and with a dome-like roof designed for interior roominess.

The Ka, does without the SUV-like architecture of the functional Panda and has no clue to cars of the past. Indeed the new KA is much more conventional and predictable than the first generation KA was when it was first launched, also at the Paris Show, 12 years ago. Once again marketing seems to have led the design, as the ultra-rich (for its class) interior design and equipment suggests.

The new Ford appear to belong to the new generation of eco-chic, small but upper class, cars that people concerned more with running costs (gasoline and insurance) that purchase prices will be in the market for in the coming years.

At this time no official information concerning powertrains, performance and prices are available but well placed sources confirms the small-and.-trendy Ford will be available with the powertrain of the Fiat 500, that is a 1.3 litre turbo-diesel and two gasoline engine of 1.2 and 1.4 litre displacement and 70 – 100 HP. The oil burner will obviously be the CO2 champion with emission expected to be under 120 g/km., only to be beaten by the 2-cylinder turbocharged 900 cc gasoline engine with stop-start technology currently under development at Fiat Powertrain Technologies (FTP)