Ford unveils new car for Brazil's booming market
By Todd Benson
SAO BERNARDO DO CAMPO, Brazil, Dec 14 (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co. (F.N) unveiled an all-new subcompact car in Brazil on Friday, beefing up its line-up to keep pace with surging demand in one of the world's fastest growing auto markets.
The car, dubbed the Novo Ka, will be built at the U.S. automaker's Sao Bernardo do Campo factory on the outskirts of Sao Paulo, the gritty industrial hub where's Brazil's auto industry and labor movement were born.
Equipped with a flex-fuel engine that can run on either gasoline or ethanol, the two-door hatchback is larger and roomier than the existing Ka model, a bubble-shaped entry-level car that has long been one of Ford's best sellers in Brazil.
"No one is going to have to sacrifice style and comfort to buy this car at an accessible price," said Marcos de Oliveira, president of Ford's Brazil and Mercosur units.
An entry-level Novo Ka will start off at 25,190 reais ($14,017), targeting middle-income consumers. It is expected to hit showroom floors in late January.
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who started his political career as a tough-talking union boss in this city in the late 1970s, attended the ceremony to unveil the Novo Ka.
The Novo Ka will add to a line-up that includes hot selling models like the Fiesta, a slightly larger subcompact car that comes in a hatchback and a sedan, and the EcoSport, a pint-sized sport utility vehicle that became the public face of Ford's turnaround in Brazil.
Ford rolled out the Novo Ka at a time when Brazil's auto industry is racking up record sales. Total auto sales in the country are on track to grow by almost 30 percent this year, beating all forecasts.
"We believe this product is going to allow us to grow at higher rates than the industry as a whole," said Rogelio Golfarb, director of corporate affairs for Ford South America.
Ford, whose sales are up 19 percent so far this year in South America, expects double-digit growth again in 2008 as more Brazilians take advantage of an economic bonanza and falling interest rates to buy cars and trucks.
To meet that demand, Ford plans to invest over 2.5 billion reais ($1.39 billion) in Brazil through 2011. In addition to its Sao Bernardo plant, Ford also has a state-of-the-art factory in the northeastern state of Bahia, where it makes the Fiesta and the EcoSport. ($1=1.797 reais) (Editing by Dave Zimmerman)
