Six gear cars

Archive for December 16th, 2009

Ford Taps Fiat For Second Generation Ka Development

On the surface it is a Ford and it will be built at a Ford factory in Poland but underneath the second generation subcompact Ford Ka will share its platform and some of its mechanicals with the Fiat 500. Rolled out in 1996 the first generation Ka is finally being replaced by an allnew model a car that will be made available in select European markets beginning in early 2009.

Powered by a 1.2L I4 engine the Ka is a threedoor hatchback weighing about one ton. Holding four passengers the car’s main appeals are its price about 14000 for a base model and high gas mileage about 50 mpg. Optionally buyers can choose a 1.3L diesel engine for optimum fuel economy reportedly in the neighborhood of 60 mpg.

Both the Ka and its Fiat sibling are being built at the automaker’s Tychy Poland facility where the automaker expects to produce as many as 120000 units annually. This is the first time the Ka is being built at Tychy a move that has helped to create more than one thousand new jobs for area residents.

It was three years ago that we reached agreement with Fiat to produce the new Ka here in Tychy explained Ian Slater vicepresident communications and public affairs Ford of Europe. One of the strengths of this cooperation has been that both parties wanted to produce vehicles which would be very different in looks and character. I’m satisfied that in doing so we’ve set up a ‘winwin’ opportunity for both companies.

To date more than 1.4 million Ka models have been sold a vehicle that has an almost cultlike following. Indeed Ford offers what they call kaligraphy; which are customized paint schemes slapped on select models in the vicinity of the vehicle’s Cpillar and on the hatchback liftgate. Buyers enjoy selecting pictures of birds flowers and other colorful objects to personalize their Ka experience.

With the introduction of the next generation Ka Ford has finished overhauling its European product line a move that brought twenty new or improved vehicles to the market in 2008 alone.

Although Ford has promised to build as many as six European models in North America the company hasn’t indicated whether the Ka will be included in that set.

Source: Ford Motor Company

About the writer:  Matthew C. Keegan is a freelance writer who resides in Cary North Carolina. Matt provides magazine web content and article writing services to clients all over the world serving the automotive human interest and business communities. Matthew Keegan Musings is his personal weblog.