New Ford sub-compact for U.S. market

[theclencher]

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[cfg83]

theclencher -

Wow! Most cool. A Fit/Yaris/Aveo/Versa fighter. From the article :

While Fields gave no time frame for the car's arrival in U.S. showrooms, Hall predicted it will probably arrive in showrooms in two years.

A Ford source familiar with the project said the company plans to build the car in Brazil, but said that may change. Ford had planned to expand one of its Mexican plants to accommodate the new model, but can no longer afford such a major expense.

Gotta start twiddlin' the thumbs and wait and see. In 2 years we may be importing Sugar-Cane Ethanol from Brazil and the new Fordlet may be dual-fuel friendly too.

CarloSW2

[Silveredwings]

Is that related to the one that kills pigeons?
http://www.lookatentertainment.com/v/v-1045.htm

[ELF]

I read about this car elsewhere, one comment from another webpage,


From the Ford Deustschland site, the average miles per gallon converts to about 34 mpg for a Fiesta. 6.5 to 7.4 l/100km with the 100 hp gasoline engine.

This is the equivalent of their EPA number.

Not sure what that number is comparable too, hwy/city or combined.

[MetroMPG]

Toronto Star wrote about this car today (the Mazda version):

Europe leaves me green with envy
http://www.thestar.com/Wheels/article/189837

The so-called B-segment (sub-compact) Mazda2 was widely praised here at its world debut, with Mazda Europe CEO James Muir noting that it is "easy to park, good looking, safe, light, comfortable, spacious, affordable, fun to drive, and has a low impact on the environment.''

Er, anything there that Canadians wouldn't jump all over?

Mazda Canada president Don Romano wasn't arguing with me at all, although the car is not currently engineered to meet our regulations. Or our market demands – at launch, no automatic transmission will be available.

But Romano added that current planned production capacity (in Japan and Spain) is sufficient only for the markets the car is intended for, and the challenge would be to build the car at a cost where it could be profitable at the price it would have to sell for to be successful, i.e., below the current Mazda3.

I hope they can figure this out.

[cfg83]

Silveredwings -

Originally Posted by Silveredwings

Is that related to the one that kills pigeons?
http://www.lookatentertainment.com/v/v-1045.htm

I don't think it is a Ford Ka drivertrain. Sounds a little bigger. Probably would prefer to eat small dogs.

CarloSW2

[rh77]

I just got back from the local edition of the Auto Show --

Ford MoCo -- has so many models available -- especially truck-like or crossovers -- but the offerings are limited in the small car segment.

I certainly they hope they bring this 2-variant over without going nuts on displacement.

Anyways...
What I noticed was how functional the Fit is. I really got to sit down and get a feel for it. Why aren't more cars like this? They seem to sell reasonably well. Same with small cars like the Versa, Civic and Scions -- people were all over them.

...But 80% of the show seemed like trucks, and more trucks, or just huge vehicles. It's obvious as you look around -- they take up most of the room!

The average engine was probably was pushing 3.5L. The sub-2.0 mark was rarely noticed.

[cfg83]

RH77 -

Originally Posted by rh77

I just got back from the local edition of the Auto Show --

Ford MoCo -- has so many models available -- especially truck-like or crossovers -- but the offerings are limited in the small car segment.

I certainly they hope they bring this 2-variant over without going nuts on displacement.

Anyways...
What I noticed was how functional the Fit is. I really got to sit down and get a feel for it. Why aren't more cars like this? They seem to sell reasonably well. Same with small cars like the Versa, Civic and Scions -- people were all over them.

...But 80% of the show seemed like trucks, and more trucks, or just huge vehicles. It's obvious as you look around -- they take up most of the room!

The average engine was probably was pushing 3.5L. The sub-2.0 mark was rarely noticed.

I consider the Fit and Versa to be designed for other countries. The Fit is the number one volume seller in the world for Honda, so it's designed to be usefull to people with less $$ to burn, people that need to make the most out of their car from a practical standpoint.

That's my 2 centavos,

CarloSW2

[ELF]

Originally Posted by rh77

I just got back from the local edition of the Auto Show --

.

Ya, did you notice all the big gas hogs, lots of hummers,escalads,big trucks and suv's all pimped out. You would think the price of gas was a buck a gallon