Ford must be a little upset by the circumstances in which the entire world has discovered it's latest concept, the 'Start' car, as it was leaked out on the internet a day before it's official unveiling was meant to take place at the Beijing auto-show. Nevertheless it's great news for us car fans! Of course lots of car companies are kicking out concepts at the Beijing auto show, it's the the place to do it these days, but Ford's design team in California are targeting this little dude at the ever growing cities in the far east and of course it is packed full of eco credentials.
Under the wee bonnet is a 1.0 litre, 3 cylinder turbo engine that ford has donned with 'EcoBoost' technology which manages to get under 100g/km of C02. We are talking 90mpg here and less emissions than a hamster fart. Ford have also said that despite it's miniature power plant it will still have the power of a 1.6 four cylinder engine, pretty impressive stuff and perfect as a city car. It is also made of super light weight composite panels and other eco-features such as one piece moulded rear seats to keep costs and resources to a minimum.
The styling is really cool, a futuristic take on the now seriously old Ka which it would make an ideal replacement for. However, both interestingly and annoyingly, Ford have said this really is strictly for the Asian market and it will not be making it's way to Europe any time soon. This is a shame because if it ends up resembling anything like it's concept (and it probably will) the Start would be a great seller, certainly in the UK, and by the time this car hits the roads motorists will be even more eco conscious and willing to adopt this new wallet friendly mobile.
So the styling won't make it to europe but the engines will, expect to see the EcoBoost technology in the new Focus and Fiesta soon, this will be a necessity for Ford not only to benefit consumers wallets but also to stay on top of the new emissions rules which could result in major fines by 2015, for more on that story feel free to Click Here.
I digress...Of course being a car from the future means it also features some great new tech. For example, the 'MyFord Mobile' concept may well be featured in the Start where owners of the iPhone for example can have a custom profile on their phone which when plugged into the car will set the the radio to their favourite stations and be able to voice control the heating and air conditioning.
We are seeing lots of these eco babys coming from various manufactures recently, a testament to the future of efficient motoring. Stay posted for further updates on the Start and more eco minis soon.
