You can't really call the Ford Ka cute - the savagely truncated rear looks too weird - and you certainly can't call it pretty. But it is modern, fashionable, trendy.
It's also very bad news for other manufacturers operating in the first-time-buyer and entry-level market.
Ford's priced the Ka at R89 950, complete with air-con and a radio/CD. That's right there with Toyota's Tazz and VW's CitiGolf but R18 000 cheaper than the lest expensive Toyota Yaris.
For sure the Ka is going to be on the first-time buyer's shopping list.
Ford SA is aiming the Ka at the first-time buyer - mostly 18 to 24-year-olds - and hoping to make "conquest sales" - selling them to people already driving something other than a Ford.
About 65 percent of buyers in Europe - where the Ka has been around for years - had never owned a Ford before getting a Ka which is why rival retailers in South Africa will be keeping a keen eye on Ka sales.
So why buy a Ka instead of a Tazz or a CitiGolf, cars with a great track record over the last 15 years? The answer, says Ford, is that the Ka has completely modern technology and safety in a package competitively priced against its two rivals.
I've never liked the Ka's looks - but then it's a few years since I was in my 20's - but I thoroughly enjoyed driving this one. The smooth ride impressed most: small cars have a short wheelbase to tend towards a choppy ride but the Ka was good on all but the bumpiest of roads.
It's only 3.62m long but the wheel-at-each-corner design has allowed a wheelbase of 2.44m. This, along with Macpherson-strut suspension at the front and a torsion beam, semi-trailing arm system at the back, gives a ride you'd usually expect from a much bigger, more expensive car.
Little legroom
There's plenty of head and legroom up front but the back seats are suitable only for pre-teens. There's little legroom and access is difficult in the two-door Ka. The four-door Tazz and CitiGolf have the advantage but the Ka is way ahead in terms of crash protection.
It has anti-lock brakes - discs front, drums rear - and side-impact bars in the doors. There are energy-absorbing crumple zones front and rear and a driver's crash bag.
Also standard are air-conditioning, alloy rims, 50/50 split and folding rear seats, a wiper for the (heatable) rear window, headlight levelling, lockable fuel cap, lockable steering column, immobiliser, power-assisted steering, inertia-reel safety belts front and rear and a crash-activated fuel cut-off.
It's thoroughly modern and very comprehensively equipped but the instrument panel is short on information - only a speedometer and fuel gauge.
Rocam power
The Ka has a South African-built, 1.3-litre, four-cylinder, Rocam engine - one camshaft, two valves per cylinder. Its 51kW (at 5500rpm) and 106Nm (at 3000rpm) are not especially impressive on paper but I found the engine flexible and very quiet.
The performance isn't that hot either: 0-100km/h takes 13.7sec, the 167km/h top speed takes all day to reach, but it really doesn't matter because this car is all about commuting and for that it gets a perfect 10.
The five-speed manual gearbox is also impressive: smooth shifts, light clutch. The brakes, though a little soft, worked perfectly.
SUMMARY
It'll be interesting to see whether the Ka makes serious inroads into Tazz/CitiGolf territory. Tough its ahead technologically its Tonka Toy looks and two-door configuration may cost it some customers.
Boy racers won't be interested either but, for someone looking for a car that punches above its weight in comfort and manoeuvrability, the Ka will be good value for money. - Pretoria News