Mulally says Ford pondering sub-Fiesta small car for emerging markets

We haven't talked about or seen the Ford Start Concept in some time, but it's starting to seem like something similar to this car might become a reality soon. Automotive News reports that Ford CEO Alan Mulally says his company is looking at adding a small, value-priced B-segment car slotting in below the Ford Fiesta, and we can't help but think of how well Ford's 2010 concept would fill this spot.

This unnamed sub-Fiesta model would likely take the place of the Ford Ka minicar, and it would ride on the same platform as the Fiesta instead of being built by Fiat on the Fiat 500 platform like the current Ka. The goal of such a car would obviously be to offer a lower-priced car than the Fiesta to help Ford expand in emerging global markets. The article says the this new model would be a global car, but there is no indication as to whether it would ever be offered in North America. There does seem to be a growing market for small cars in this market as evident by the Fiat 500, Scion iQ and Chevrolet Spark, but the jury remains out on their long-term sales prospects. Mulally confirmed to Automotive News that if such a car came to fruition, it would definitely wear Ford's iconic Blue Oval rather than branding it with a lower-dollar nameplate like Renault currently does with Dacia and Nissan is planning to do with its revived Datsun brand.

Like the Start Concept, Ford's new value model would almost certainly feature the new 1.0-liter three-cylinder EcoBoost in its powertrain lineup. This engine is already available in the larger Ford Focus in other markets (we had a chance to take for a quick spin back in July), and Ford is understood to be evaluating the powerplant for possible North American consumption.