Ford Boots the Verve

As the fuel crunch hits hard Americans are seeing the appeal in small cars and crossover SUVs, which is why Ford is showing of its Verve concept at the Detroit Show this year. The three-door model we're already familiar with since it was unveiled at the Frankfurt Show last September, but the saloon version is new and will appeal to sedan-loving Americans (as well as the Chinese who, like ourselves, perceive four-door saloons as being more upmarket). Ford has confirmed the Verve will be a "global family of small cars" so don't expect the body styles to stop with a hatchback and a saloon.The front grille has been tweaked to adopt Ford of America's three-bar graphic while the trapezoidal lower grille has been downsized for conservative American tastes. Otherwise, though, the front portion of the car is very similar to the European Verve. The booted rear end is pure Mondeo and is exquisitely integrated indicating that Ford has designed the Verve to be both a hatch and a saloon from the start. It's very close to how the production car will look, in fact, so much so the concept is only riding on rather modest 18-inch wheels and much of the interior switchgear are production-spec European parts.By 2012, Ford expects 45 percent of all cars to be small cars, accounting for 38 million cars globally and 3.4 million units in the U.S alone. This is mainly due to the next generation of ecologically aware, tech-savvy youngsters taking to the roads. Ford wants to appeal to the iPod generation by offering the Verve as a 'premium' small car, meaning it's likely to be more expensive than built-to-a-price rivals from GM, Chrysler, Toyota and Honda with a high-quality European interior and sophisticated chassis tuning, similar to the European model. The production version of the Verve will hit the streets in Europe and America later this year.