Ford has begun looking for potential partners to produce a true mini to compete with the Fiat Seicento, Renault Twingo and Volkswagen Lupo, sources told Automotive News Europe.
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Ford sources stress that plans are at a very early stage and that an alliance with another carmaker is only theoretical at this point. Ford could also decide to go it alone.
“We have to move the centre of gravity of our vehicles,” said Ford of Europe chief engineer Malcolm Thomas,. “There is a macro trend of cars getting smaller. At some point we have to do an A-segment car.”
If Ford does build a mini, it would likely come in more than one body style.
Ford is considering a three-door hatchback plus a small people-mover similar to the Opel Agila.
Ford’s partner Mazda already has a mini called the Carol which it markets in its home market of Japan. The Carol, which was engineered by Suzuki, has a small people-mover derivative called the AZ Wagon/Spiano. The cars are built on Suzuki’s global Alto platform. Ford owns 33% of Mazda.
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By GlobalData“We’ve talked with third parties,” confirmed Thomas. “If we did build a small vehicle in future, our going-in position would be to do it as a global programme. Small cars are even stronger in the Far East and emerging markets than in Europe.”
Ford is exploring several options for the future mini, which include shortening the B 256 platform used for the latest Fiesta. But modifying the Fiesta platform is not likely because of the penalty in weight and fuel economy, a Ford source said. The preferred option would be a dedicated small-car platform.
Ford is looking at potential powertrains for the mini. Among the options would be cutting one cylinder off the RoCam cast-iron block that serves as the basis of the four-cylinder, 1.3-litre Duratec engine in the current Ka.
The Ka is classified as Ford’s entry in the mini segment. But the Ka’s designation as a mini has always been debatable, since it is based on the old BE 91 platform that was used for the previous-generation Fiesta supermini.
The Ka has always been a little larger and pricier than rival cars in the mini segment.
Around late 2000, Ford decided to kill a programme to develop a successor to the Ka. But Ford has continued to tweak the current Ka, extending its life as a niche vehicle.
Two derivatives have been added — the Streetka and Sportka — and a second engine has been introduced: a 1.6-litre, 90hp Duratec unit. With 90hp, the new engine is more powerful than Ka’s previous 60hp powerplant. Ford says the Duratec engine is built to provide the most fun for the least money. It has a cast-iron block and eight valves.
But before deciding to build a new mini, Ford must solve a familiar problem among carmakers. That is, how to make profits with small cars.
“The smaller you make cars, the more difficult the business equation,” Thomas said. “Customers expect to pay less for a smaller car. If you look at how much people are prepared to pay versus how much it costs to engineer, and plot a graph, the slopes of the two graphs are not the same.”
The Ka is Ford’s own internal benchmark for small cars. “The Ka has made money from Day One,” said Thomas.
Ford had to be careful to remain true to the Ka brand with the new Streetka and Sportka, Thomas said.
“There was an argument that the Ka could be a competitor to the Audi TT if we put a powerful engine in it,” he said.
Ford thought about installing a folding hardtop and all-around disc brakes, but decided to stay “true to the Ka brand,” Thomas said.
“Most people have way more car than they need,” he added. “There isn’t a Ka made that you can lose your licence with. So the decision was to make it a fun vehicle, not a performance vehicle.”
