California Autos Examiner

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Ka? Maybe Ford Will Say Yah!





If we follow the logic of Free Press columnist Mark Phelan, then there might be a very small Ford in our future. I think that Mark's thought process is reasonably sound on this one, so let's get down to brass tacks.

Mark doesn't mention this, but it's worth noting that Ford chief Alan Mulally hearts the small Ford Ka. We also know that the Ford Ka is a partnership with Fiat which uses the same platform to make the marvelous 500. Now as Phelan's logic continues, if Fiat produces the 500 in North American, likely Mexico, and also produces a Chrysler variant off the platform, it would make a lot of sense for Ford to join in and squeeze off a few Ka's. The only way to make money on these small numbers is to either charge a fancy price or make a ka-jillion of the little buggers. Given that Mexico, USA and Canada can only choke down so many from any one nameplate, spreading the volume and cost amongst three brands makes a lot of sense.

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