Ford May Bring Ka Small Car to U.S.
Ford’s popular European Ka car might be coming to America after all. The Associated Press reports ( via Yahoo) 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.” Perhaps the sudden availability of tens of billions of taxpayer-backed bucks to retool domestic factories for fuel-efficient vehicles had a little something to do with this change of heart. Ford has recently written off $8b worth of previous investments in truck and SUV production lines. It’s currently sitting on $25b of highly explosive long term debt. So yes, a little boost from Uncle Sam (that’s you) would be just the thing to get Ford to sing “Baby you can build my Ka.” Yes, but– can Ford get the kind of price premium for the Ka that Mercedes somehow cons people into paying for the Smart car? CAFE be damned; the idea of driving next to full-size SUVs from the driver’s seat of a Ka-sized car sets my teeth a chattering.
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No, I think the "fear and loathing of SUV's" is not necessarily misplaced; to a cellphone-blabbing soccer-mama in an Expedition, a Ka might appear to be as insignificant in the visual field as a motorcycle - and there are many fatalities of motorcycle riders where the person who made the left turn in front of them made the claim that "I didn't see him". Bike's headlight being on in daytime, too.
Those commercials for the SportKa are downright evil...love them
@MBella The Ka is a City Car (ie. Smart, iQ) The Smart is 3 feet shorter than the Ka, the iQ is still 2 feet shorter. Comparing the Ka to the Smart would be like saying an Aveo is roughly the size of a Mercedes S-Class. Size-wise, the closest thing to the Ka on the US market now is the Mini. @Robstar Is this the same as the Ka offered in Brazil? I can’t see the picture due to being at work. No, the Brazilian Ka is a different beast. Mk1 European Ka: Based on shortened mid-90s Fiesta platform Mk2 European Ka: Based on Fiat 500/Panda platform Brazilian Ka: Based on shortened last-gen Fiesta platform
A friend of mine in San Francisco insisted that he sees Kas on the street. I told him he was crazy. Then he gave me this link: http://www.sanfranciscoconvertible.com/?q=article%2Fford-ka-street-cabriolet-rental-san-francisco