Ford Subcompact Concept Coming to Detroit

Yesterday we got our first look at the Ford Verve concept car, the basis for a new subcompact for Ford’s European customers. At the Detroit auto show in January, the company will unveil an American-targeted version. There will also be a third concept for Asian markets, set to debut in China this November. All three will be largely the same outside of the design realm, based on a chassis developed with Mazda. The partnership with Mazda has brought the most interesting new products to Ford’s lineup of late, including the Fusion sedan and Edge SUV.

One Ford executive said there would be only “slight tuning” for each market, and that the American version would be similar to the Verve concept.

The subcompact market is one of the fastest-growing in the U.S., and Ford rivals Chrysler — with its Dodge Hornet — and GM — which showed three minicar concepts at the New York Auto Show in April — are aiming to join in. There’s a video below of the Verve being built with lots of design speak. One interesting tidbit from the video is that the Verve is exactly the same size as the current Ford Fiesta. Video thanks to WorldCarFans.

Ford Goes Global With Verve (The Detroit News)