Ford Verve Sedan Foreshadows U.S. Concept

Ford’s global design team delivered another cool-looking small-car concept at a Chinese car show last week, called the Verve. This sedan follows up on Ford of Europe’s hatchback concept a few months back and is the precursor to a Verve concept set to debut at the Detroit auto show in January, aimed at American tastes.

We’re not sure why American tastes are so different from Asian and European tastes. Both of the Verve concepts are stunning for small cars. Let’s hope Ford delivers something as eye-catching in Detroit. More photos of the Verve sedan concept are below.

Comments

"...the precursor to a Verve concept set to debut at the Detroit auto show..."

The keyword being *concept*; coming from Ford that means nothing.

The Asian Verve sure looks gorgeous though.

I'm one-time Ford owner who happily converted into a Honda freak. Still, this looks good enough to entice me. Keep 'em coming, Ford.

built it or get off the pot.

Is it me or does the front look like an old Intrepid/Concord (gaping mouth grill, cab forward)from Chrysler with the headlights wrapped a little more around the front quarter panel?

Yeah I guess there IS a little of the old Lutz era Chrysler in it. But like followchina said, if they don't build it, it's just another waste of money.

It could be a good global car though. I understand it's smaller than it looks, Focus sized, right? Well the US has had it's Focus for too long already, and the next gen for Europe should be quickly approching. Mullany (sp?) said there would be more global integration so hopefully this car will be out by 2010?

Actually - this is smaller than a Focus - more Yaris sized in terms of market segment, although in reality somewhat larger than a Yaris.

Take a look at the Fiesta spyshots out there to get a better idea of sizing. It's based on the Mazda2, to clarify a little...

Personally I'm not sure about this sedan varient. It looks great from the front 3/4 view, but from the side the rump looks very weighty and unbalanced. I guess that's what happens when you try and turn a small hatch into something else.

I still like it though...

Expect to pay $2300 for an extremely minor read-end bump at 3 mph.

I have read elsewhere that this may still be called "Fiesta" in Europe(or at least the UK). I hope the USA variant doesn't change much, IMO it's sexy. Looks alot like a mini Mondeo, but the grill is a bit large for a compact car!

I agree with the comments above. To not build this here would be automotive suicide for Ford. This would fit well within the design evolution over at ford. Put this next to the the Ford Edge and theres kind of a cohesiveness there, except maybe those fusion headlights on the Edge. The old Dodge cab forward design would probably equate to the illusion of alot more room in a small car like that. Given, the back end does look heavy but that probably translates to some decent trunk space for its class size. If they were to produce this now I could picture it still looking good with smaller rims a visable B-pillar, black trim around the windows instead of chrome and full red tail lights. However looking at Fords current designs I could completely see them retarding the design into what they believe to be more American = bold & boxy. Car companies have the money to do styling studies right? They have got to be getting some good feedback on this one from the American market. If priced right I could see this doing extremely well against the Yaris, Aveo & Fit. Pair that with a great interior and good gas mileage and you've got a segment leader. For a company with a slogan of "Bold Moves" they sure don't seem to be doing any. Building the verve sedan and hatch as we have seen them here would be a bold move indeed.

A similar style to this could be a future Fusion redesign. Doubt though that Ford is willing to alienate a few Ford old timers that prefer the traditional boxy look. Too bad, Ford could use a shot in the arm for more modern styling and flair.

Make the hood flatter & the grill smaller and i would definitely buy one, the lump in the hood (over the headlight) could probably make a mild blind spot.

Looks like a small Austin Martin. I will buy it if it is less than 25,000 and does not have cheap plastic interior.

Hopefully this will underpin a new 3rd gen Focus. Its been stated that the global Focus and American Focus will once again share a platform in 2011.

Everyone in America HATES Ford styling sans a few old timers: and they are rapidly approaching the point in their life where they wont be buying cars anymore, just driving their old ones. GM tried the "get the old people to spend idea in 2005, it did not work.

Ford, stop surveying your customers for design and product launch directions anymore. The few customers you have left are not representative of the rest of us. Get used to that.

I like what i see on the pictures, but I think a car this size is better off as a hatchback. Toyota Yaris sedan looks awkward with the trunk attached to its tiny body. It's as if Toyota wanted yaris to look bigger and "less" European/Asian. Ford is doing the same with verve here, but is it really that important to drive a car that looks BIG?

Tom L,
I seriously doubt that you are in any place to speak for "everyone in America". I think most of their styling is very handsome- just not very exciting, which is good and bad. I think the styling on most of the current ford cars is aging far better than lots of its rivals, namely the Chrysler 300, which was a styling tour de force a couple of years back. It looks old and dated now. Fords current customers are good ones, as evidenced by ford's pretty high repeat buyers, and a company never wants to alienate good customers. I'd rather see ford continue to build its quality as it is doing than put out flashy pieces of junk. You don't see toyota and honda people complaining about their bland-mobiles do you.

Kinetic over Bold designs any day.

"Fords current customers are good ones, as evidenced by ford's pretty high repeat buyers." Oh, you must mean customers like Budget Rental Car and Hertz. They are probably Ford's best customers because fleet sales over style is more important to them.

You don't see toyota and honda people complaining about their bland-mobiles do you." No you don't. Must be because they have reliability to count on. Style is only second in importance.

KJ- the "bland-mobiles" comment was not a knock at toyota or honda (well sort of), no need to get all defensive.

About the fleet sales, is there any listing of these numbers, because I recently was with out a car for 2 months and I went through 3 rentals. None were ford and when I was at the rental place I saw no fords. In fact almost all I saw were sonatas, altimas and g6s- all three times. Not to say that there are no ford rentals, I'm not saying that, but who sells has the most rental sales? Dave. T, do you know?

Americans don't like streamlined cars. That's the whole reason for the SUV craze. Give the people what they want - right angles. It pisses off design buffs, but it's the truth. Give the nation a square car with a big grill and round headlights and they will uy it.

ford makes the best cars the 2000 to 2007 tarus are collector items cars like the 1964 impalas not to mention old school fords already are any cars for seem to create turns to gold as the years past ford for life

The verge is a hit! To find out why Detroit will never see it read the new Ford book - Ford and the American Dream by Clifton Lambreth

Finally a cool small car from Ford. The Focus is boring, the Thunderbird was over-priced, and the Ka is not sold in the US (wish I could tell the genius who has kept the Ka out of the US a thing or two). Bring on the Verve, Ford - you (we) need more cars like this. Lets save gas, save the atmosphere, and buy American!