Our European spy photographers CarPix snapped this mysterious camo-ed compact car that was being escorted by a Ford Fiesta. The Fiesta was wearing a number plate from Cologne, which is where the Ford Research and Advanced Engineering Centre is.
This leads us to believe it’s most likely some kind of Ford, but we’re not really sure what it is. It looks like a Mitsubishi Mirage/Nissan March type of car – slotting into the A-segment beneath the Fiesta.
In fact it seriously looks so much like a Mitsubishi Mirage that we thought this must be some European version of the Mirage, but then we looked closely and saw that the door handles sit on the side character line on this car while on the Mirage the door handles are positioned under the character line.
Ford’s current compact car line-up is rather split up – Europe gets the Ford Ka, a badge engineering project built by Fiat that is not selling and is due to be scrapped soon. For emerging markets, there’s the Ford Figo. In line with the new One Ford strategy, Ford’s Ka/Figo A-segment line-up might be merged into a single global car and this car might just be it.
There are a lot of cues on this car that look like it could be a production evolution of the Ford Start Concept which was showcased at the 2010 Beijing Auto Show, especially the front end and the side window profile.
So, is this Ford’s new global A-segment car? We don’t really know, and most of this story attempting to make an educated guess at best.
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What ka?
Looks extremely like a mirage.
But 4 doors? Hm.
The first Ka that was very successful was wonderful to drive. I took it up to 140, no problem (except for getting deaf), went around corners as flat as anything. Probably very much like the old Mini. Not comfortable, but fun to drive except for the Myvi style manual gearbox. Weighted next to nothing, so the small engine was fine with it. It was brilliant. Deadly, but brilliant.
that side mirror..
looks like ecosport, polo..
Proton NamaSiapaHebat on testing at Europe?
the front seems to have Ford’s Aston grill
Proton GSC testing at Europe. Can’t wait for it to be released! :D
It’s got Volkswagen Group side mirrors though, straight from a Polo or (Euro) Skoda Rapid. The front is very Mirage, the rear almost Hyundai i20. How odd!
FV may stand for field validation which means subjective and objective testing and evaluations in real world driving conditions considering all road patterns. Ford may be are doing some benchmarking for Ka but there is no reason to camouflage a competitors car coz its inviting more unnecessary attention. Definitely not Proton GSC but looks like a Kia Picanto
The doorhandes on the prototype are the same as the ones on the Fiesta and EcoSport. The shape of the hood with the narrow central bulge is also similar to the one on the facelifted Fiesta. The beltline that rises at the rear over the hips is almost identical to the EcoSport’s. This is definitely a Ford, here’s my photoshop rendering.
http://i367.photobucket.com/albums/oo118/AM2_album/2015_Ford-Ka-Figo-AM2-small-image.jpg
NEW FORD KA…. It is a car for the Brazilian market. It is larger, but it is simpler to be cheap!
Even the VW UP, will be higher in Brazil! Who does not like very small cars!
Also have sedan version !