Ford has announced how much it will cost you to get into a new Ka today, and amazingly there's not a Bond girl in sight.
A fiver shy of £8,000 is the starting point, but like everyone else these days, Ford is peddling 'affordable personalisation' too. That's the options list to you and me.
Due to go on sale in January, the base spec Studio version will get a CD/MP3 player with six-speakers, ABS, two airbags and body coloured-bumpers. Style versions add heated body coloured door mirrors, remote central locking and electric windows, all for an extra £500, and for a further £500 (that's £8,995), Style+ adds air con and a heated front screen.
Top level Zetec versions get 15-inch alloys, a sporty body kit, front fog lights and fancy dimming interior lights. That'll be £9,495, or £10,195 for the diesel version. Ford expects 40 percent of Kas sold to be Zetecs.
Two engines are available: a 1.2-litre petrol with 68bhp and a 1.3-litre TDCi diesel with 74bhp - the latter of which is only available in Zetec guise.
Back to personalisation: a vast array of interior and exterior packs can be added, as befitting a car Ford hopes will appeal to trendy urban youngsters. These include bigger alloys, a rear spoiler and some exterior decals. Also available are 'tattoo' interior and exterior packs - though tread with caution, because if this Ka lasts as long as the previous one did there's every chance you'll end up regretting some of these options.
We'll have a
first drive of the all new Ka later, so make sure you come back to see if it's a worthy successor to the iconic original.
Mark Nichol - 31 Oct 2008