These images have been freshly shot by our friends at Autoblog, and are supposed to be of an upcoming Ford five door hatch. Now the current Figo is already past its mid-life, and the development of the next generation version may well be on. But we have our doubts on whether the time is ripe for the model range to have such close-to-production mules undergoing test. There is still some time before that happens we think.
What’s more, the current generation Figo has cabin space as one of its biggest virtues, and Ford would not want the car to lose out on that USP. The test mule doesn’t have any similarity with the long and low shape of the current gen model. It’s seems to be shorter in length and has a more rakish, shorter bonnet with very strong, chiseled central lines on the bonnet, almost like a power bulge. The bonnet also has powerful creases near the flanks sloping towards slashed end of the bonnet which doesn’t meet the radiator grille. The headlights are upswept and sporty, unlike the horizontal styling of the current Figo. The roundish roofline, along with the greenhouse somehow reminds us of the Micra. Also, the signature rear quarter panel on the Figo is absent on this car. We really don’t think that Ford would want to shrink the next gen Figo. At the rear, the styling seems to be more angular than at front. There is a roof spoiler visible above the rear window and the rear bumper is quite huge too with a high loading lip.
This could have been the next-gen Ka, but the model line is not slated to be replaced. All those things point at a smaller, sub-Figo car which may be an entry point car by the Blue Oval for developing markets like India where the demand for low cost cars is relatively high. Having another, cheaper model alongside the Figo to fight it out with the wider model range of Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai is also the need of the hour.
While there is no official word on the new car, if it actually is a sub-Figo machine, it may be powered by a 1.2 liter petrol and a 1.4 liter TDCi diesel just like the current Figo. With its newfound aggressive pricing strategy in India with the Ecosport, Ford may well price this new hatch substantially below the Figo, to create a new volumes warrior.
More details about this mysterious new car should be out in the next couple of days. We have our ears on the ground. Stay tuned!
Images: Autoblog