All-New 2009 Ford Ka Officially Unveiled

That interior only seems comfortable for those under 5ft and clowns.

Looks like someone gave it a wedgie.

@JadeTalon:

What makes you say that? I'm 6'6" and I can ride in a Honda Fit just fine, I doubt this thing will be that much smaller inside around the driver and passenger. I can even fit in a Mini somehow too, so this shouldn't be a problem for anyone under 6'.

MINI? The front-seat dimensions are almost exactly the same as my wife's 1996 Mercedes-Benz C280, except the MINI has MORE headroom, but just a couple of inches.

Hey, the MINI isn't such a small car anymore anyway... but I still got it. It's fun, for sure.

I'm 7' 10 and can wear this car as a shoe.

I know that Ford (Euro) is really trying to make common cars looks swoopy and sporty, but when the car is nearly as tall as it is long, it just doesn't work.

The proportions are just too off.

@AutoBot

" the car is nearly as tall as it is long"

this phenomenon is commonly refered to circus bear syndrome as they are commonly made to ride small bikes in their routines.

"Do you think Ford should bring this car to the US?"

No, i think Ford should re-stamp the Pinto and Maverick. Retaining the gorgeous earth tones of the day, that way they can post $15,000,000,000 losses too.

Looky there boys. Steering wheel is already on the correct side too. This could be a 2010 US model if anyone at Ford valued their jobs. Don't monkey fu*k around trying to restyle it for America either. It looks fine, and will save countless millions on re-tooling and sales loss after it arrived looking like a boring loaf of unsliced white bread.

"Fresh, Funky, and Fun"

and not available in the U.S.

Thanks, Ford. Thanks for denying the U.S. a decent alternative sub-compact. Good luck selling your oversized pickups and SUVs. That's exactly what America does NOT want... but obviously you are a few years behind the curve. You and every other US automaker.

Not that this is really a reasonable alternative (I hope that those buying SUVs/P-Us have an actual need). It's just that Ford has ZERO small compacts available to the U.S. You can't count the Focus in this category - it is a small sedan, but no compact.

I think a small, cheap sub-compact like this (especially diesel) would be a great 2nd commuter car. ARE YOU LISTENING, FORD?? no, obviously not....

I think I had a shuttle in EVE that looked just like that.

funny, but europeans are on average 2" taller than americans and
yet they think they are too big for this car? Must be in different dimension...

If you actually go to Europe and check these types of cars out, I think you would all be pleasantly surprised. Believe it or not, most people would be able to fit just fine inside of it. I rented a Ford Fiesta over there and it was a nice little cruiser and me and my wife and 2 kids fit just fine. The car even flew down the autobahn just fine.

@lowest iq:

[Earning your moniker again, eh?] Other than the Netherlands, no European country has an average male height that is 2" taller than in the US and that is when we include Mexican-Americans. In fact, if one excludes Mexican-Americans from the data, the average heights are essentially the same between the US and Europe. (Also, contrary to popular belief, the average height for African American males is the same as white males)

@CS:
The Fiesta is Ford's B-segment car, (i.e bigger than the A-segment Ka, but smaller than the C-segment Focus).

As for who will fit in what car, I'm suspect that people who are less than 40lb overweight will fit into this car. As seen below, it all depends on the configuration:

Toyota Camry* -------> FHR= 38.8" FLR= 41.7"
Mini Cooper ----------> FHR= 38.8" FLR= 41.4"
Honda Fit --------------> FHR= 40.6" FLR= 41.9"
Cadillac STS -----------> FHR= 38.7" FLR= 42.6"
Cadillac Escalade ----> FHR= 41.1" FLR= 41.3"

* most sold car in US

I don't know that this car would sell well in the US other than as an absolute beginner car and that it should be attractive in the larger cities, NY, Chicago, LA, but I understand that not everyone drives in the larger cities. They take public transit or walk/bicycle etc. I would think a car like this would be ideal. If enough people drove them, they could change parking spots from being along the curb to toward the curb and increase parking significantly without impacting driving lanes significantly.

I do think Ford's NEEDS to get something like the Fiesta (I still like to think of it as the Verve, I thought that was a better name) built here ASAP, but I question that the US is ready enough to have multiple tiny cars like this. However, I suppose sales figures could be forecast off how well the Smart 4-2 is being accepted.

T

This is how the oil crisis will solve America's weight problem. Super sized citizens won't be able to afford their daily trip to McDonalds until they slim down enough to fit in this car.

and if the Europeans exclude the immigrants, then they are 2" taller on average.
No worry Bubba, you can use 'lowest iq' if you want. And if you apply for a passport, you can come over and see for yourself.

@lowest:

Any [reliable] sources for your statements? Somehow, I doubt it. Do your research, and your findings will agree with mine.

As for visiting, sorry to dissappoint you, but I have spent quite a bit of time in Northern Europe, and did not notice any height difference. Not only was I as tall as the typical male (even in the Netherlands) but I was just as slim. [I must admit that I lost about 10lbs in the first three months, due in large part to the parking situation.]

BTW: What is the typical duration of the statute of limitations in the EU?

well, for a cheap-as-chips car i reckon it looks pretty damn cute

I'm from Europe and I am 190cm (not sure in US units). I can fit in most of these tiny cars, btw this Ford looks very much Peugeot 107 to me. I dont think I will ever want one (driving comfort is absent here:). As for parking - because most of these are driven by female drivers (thats my observation) in most cases they take more parking space than my Subaru Outback Diesel:) and they consume about the same ammount of fuel.

A rolling death trap especially in America with all the large trucks and suv's on the highway that love to tailgate cars like these to intimidate you.

The interior is looks like KaKa.

I LOVE WHINING !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Does everyone in the world think the US is one giant city with nothing but trucks and busses just looking for blood ?

Let's be real here. Or a little more real than the typical TR thread anyway. The roads here are full of little cars. And i don't see any drivers wearing hockey gear, HANS devices, or wrapped in a queen sized mattress in fear that they may be crushed and explode next to mile marker 38.

When people can't produce facts, they spew fantasy.
So, some truth: About 20 years ago (the late 80's) when i was fresh out of school, i drove a 1976 Corolla Sport Coupe. Great little car that was rear-ended while i was stopped at an intersection waiting to make a left. Police estimate the full size, 4 door GMC pickup that hit me was going about 50mph, and hit the brakes maybe 10ft before impact.

I don't remember the hit, just some stuff loose in the car hitting me. Even then Toyota did a very good job engineering a safe car. Since there was a full size spare below the trunk, Toyota put a fuel cell in the car suspended just behind the rear seat.
The GMC pushed everything into trunk, and shortened the car enough that opening the doors was never happening again. All that junk stopped 8 inches short of the fuel cell. Other than a sore neck from low back bucket seats, i crawled out unharmed and ready to kill the other guy. I loved that car.

I don't fear small cars or trucks tailgating on the highway, especially when i live in the toolies, 25 miles from our state capitol. The nasty wrecks are wrong-way jobbies and people driving like a-holes around 18-wheelers. Those wrecks don't end pretty no matter what you're seated in.

For the record, i was 6'2" then, and maybe 6'3" now. And of Italian heritage since the only true "Americans" are Native Americans and Mexicans.
And having actually driven small cars like the Yaris, Fit, Versa, etc, i had no problem getting the seats to positions that gave me room to stretch out.
Cars i don't fit in include the Miata, S2000, Ranger and S-10 regular cab pickups, plus old fart versions of the Crown Vic and Caprice.

Facts people, facts. Please.

4 years.
http://ec europa.eu/civiljustice/time_limits/time_limits_cze_en.htm

2"
http://www metafilter.com/32100/Average-American-vs-European-Height

@lowest:

Thanks for the time limit information - it wasn't exactly what I was looking for, but it is a trail I can follow.

As for the 2" source, I would hesitate to use the "New Yorker Magazine" for scientific research. While the article suggest that males in the Netherlands are ~2.5 inches taller than the average US male, the Netherlands represents a mere 3.4% of the EU population and any conclusion regarding relative EU and US heights would be flawed.

Though sources are not cited in the article, the data for the US males corresponds to what is published in the CDC's "Mean Body Weight, Height, and Body Mass Index, United States 1960–2002" and includes all males over 20 (including those who were infants, children, and adolescents during the depression.) The data for the Netherland males matches published numbers from a 2004 study by Delft Univesity of Technology which is limited to 20-30 year olds.

So in the end, Europeans are 2.5" taller than Americans, only if we limit the European population to 20-30 years old Dutch males, while the US males include all ages and include Hispanics (10.7%) and Asians (4.4%).

As for who will fit in a Ka, we won't know until we see the interior dimensions. (Anything over 38.5" FHR & 41" FLR will fit most everyone including Dutchmen.)

@bubba

The New Yorker collates, not generates, info. Their articles are usually well-researched.

My conclusion is that Eu are about 4 cm taller then Americans, like for like. The heights, excluding imigrants, increases at both sides of the ocean by about 5 cm. The TU-D study is a subset of the National study.

@ Lowest:

The New Yorker collates? More like interpretes (and not always well).

My conclusion is that the height difference is more like 4mm (much less than 2") and this is being generous since more than 50% of the European countries exclude shorter segments of the population from the data.

Country (population) / height / Age restrictions

Netherlands(16,645,313) / 184.8 / 20–30
Iceland(304,367) / 181.7 / 20
Sweden(9,045,389) / 181.3 / 25–34
Denmark(5,484,723) 180.6 / Conscripts, 19
Czech Republic(10,220,911) / 180.3 / 18
Norway(4,644,457) / 179.9 / conscripts 18–19;
Hungary(9,930,915) / 179.14 / University students
Estonia(1,307,605) / 179.1 / 17
Germany(82,369,548) / 178.1
Italy(58,145,321) / 176.9 / 20
Belgium(10,403,951) / 176.6
Switzerland(7,581,520) / 175.5
United Kingdom(60,943,912) / 175.2
Finland(5,244,749) / 174.7
France(60,876,136) / 174.1
Portugal(10,676,910) / 172.8 / Conscipts, 21
Spain(40,491,051) / 170

Europe weighted average 176.2

U.S. average 175.8

Wow! Awesome thread folks. Lots of info to keep in mind.

I'm Dutch, 5'4" (female) and I love the Ford Ka's look! I wish they had it in the US of A.

Hi

Will the new fordka be available in South Africa?