Ford Start Concept breaks cover

[Jason[98.EL]]

Taken from carpoint

Ford Start Concept breaks cover

The Blue Oval's latest concept car hints at a brand new sub-compact model to take on the Fiat 500
Ford has taken the wraps off a new concept design at the Beijing International motor show, the Start Concept, which provides an early look at the company's next generation sub-compact city car.

The Blue Oval's next generation global city car (and possible successor to the Ford Ka) will take on the likes of the Fiat 500 in a slot below the Fiesta, which has been a huge success for Ford.

Powered by a 1.0-litre 3-cylinder "near-production" EcoBoost engine, Ford expects the new vehicle to discharge less than 100g/km of CO2, which would make it almost as green as the Toyota Prius and Ford Fiesta ECOnetic.

The design of the Start Concept is fairly low-key, with similarities to the Audi A1, although featuring fewer angles and more curves. It could be argued that the design treads a fine line between retro and contemporary styles.

"We didn't set out to design some sort of utilitarian concept to save the world, nor were we interested in following the competitive trend toward an overly noisy design language," said Ford's design guru J Mays.

Designed for the world's largest mega-cities, the Ford Start Concept's C-pillar is ultra-thin, creating a large expanse of glass that will improve rearward vision.

Ford's designers have taken to the interior with a similar mindset, creating a minimalist but eye-catching cabin with a sporty ambience, thanks to bold instruments and colour-matched accents on the seats.

The three-door hatch has seating for four and the Blue Oval's technical gurus have integrated some clever features into the interior, revolving around a 6-inch touch-screen display set up like an Apple iPad with large, easy to recognise icons.

The 'MyFord Mobile Concept' port also provides true hands-free operation, with almost all functions of the car (heating/cooling, radio etc) being voice operated. Owners of smart phones -- iPhones and the like -- can integrate their devices with the car, which then allows drivers to access all aspects of their phone via spoken command.

The net result of this broad spectrum voice control and touch-screen interface is the simplification of the traditional dashboard and centre console, an evolution of interior design that is no doubt being considered by all car makers.

[Franco Cozzo]

Pretty damn ugly car, but I like all the gadgets they say it has.

[Zed7fiddy]

when are bored going to release something remotely interesting?

[regency_red]

Pretty dull looking machine, but I found the part about the thin C-pillar interesting... too many new cars seem to have high belt lines, makes it quite difficult when you're doing a quick over-the-shoulder check of your blind spot.

Can't say the rest of the package interests me though - I could imagine features like iPhone integration and huge touch screens would be very distracting, not to mention expensive. Back to basics I say.

[dannyhilton]

Looks great IMO. Taking a revised look at what the original Ka was, and I think they hit the nail on the head. Bits like the head lights and tail lights are to be ignored, but other elements such as the lower grille (notice it's on the US Fiesta and Taurus) are big hits of what Ford will be bring with their refreshed Kinetic styling. The proportions, wrap around corners and high waistline give the car a very strong look, so if the next Ka looks anything like this, bring it on. The current Ka is a nice little looker if rather dull, but this could change that.

[Archilino]

Agreed danny i think it looks great too, but can it be an entry model car say 14k or will it be more prestige in the 20k range if it was to sell here?

Also is the 1.0 3cylinder engine a turbo?

[Falc'man]

Hopefully they will work on it's look before it reaches production.

[ltd]

I think they're trying to appeal to the inner suburban twat market.
Whilst we'd never even think of owning one, getting some of the environmentalists out of toyotas or vw's can't be too bad can it?
Think that tragic EMO who went on youtube going; "Leave Brittany ALONE!!!" - that's the car for him (and unfortunately, there are millions of idiot emo's like him).

[jpd80]

FoA's PD team have been away from Australia for a while now,
I wonder if this is what they were working on or something else?

[dominelli]

Hey Guys, don't forget that the current Ford Ka in Europe is actually based on the Fiat 500 rather than based on the old Ka or a shortened Fiesta.

By the way, as dorky as these small cars go, plenty of people buy them and maybe if they bought more small Ford's, when they got older and/or wiser they just might buy more bigger Ford's.

[last fairlane]

Well what do you know
Just like Startrek (the real one with Capt Kirk)
they will have voice comands
"Computer on" "Computer off" "Beam me up Scotty"
You have the com
anyway its a whole lot better looking than that God awful car
the KA
John

[DJM83]

I like it, but i have an AU so i have bad taste.

[Elks]

Originally Posted by DJM83

I like it, but i have an AU so i have bad taste.

Bwah ha ha ha, oh, hang on, so do I...

Anyway back to the thread. I love it. As posted the head and tail lights need finishing to make it less George Jetson and more contemporary.

Although I'd never buy one, I'm a GT-H kind of guy, I could see my daughters in one. It has all of the elements they would love, cute round, easy to park, the electronics etc.

Just beause your typical forum member isn't a buyer doesn't mean it won't work. I'd never buy a Corolla either but they sell a zillion of those every year.

T