carioca1000
10-08-2008, 04:17 AM
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081007/AUTO01/810070338/1148/
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Ford reconsiders tiny import car
CEO Alan Mulally said the Ka, sold mostly in Europe, might be brought to America.
Tom Krisher / Associated Press
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 Car Show. It will be launched in major European markets by late this year or early 2009.
The Ka is 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 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 said. "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.
The only vehicle the size of a Ka in the U.S. is Daimler AG's Smart Fortwo. 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.
Despite the deteriorating economy worldwide, Mulally said he's still confident Ford will survive the downturn.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Ford reconsiders tiny import car
CEO Alan Mulally said the Ka, sold mostly in Europe, might be brought to America.
Tom Krisher / Associated Press
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 Car Show. It will be launched in major European markets by late this year or early 2009.
The Ka is 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 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 said. "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.
The only vehicle the size of a Ka in the U.S. is Daimler AG's Smart Fortwo. 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.
Despite the deteriorating economy worldwide, Mulally said he's still confident Ford will survive the downturn.