Ford to enter small car battle, will get a little help from Mazda 

Ford to enter small car battle, will get a little help from Mazda

The rising U.S. demand for more fuel-efficient cars has prompted Ford to turn to Mazda for help in coming up with a subcompact vehicle. Mazda, known for its excellent road performers, will be leading a project to develop the basic architecture for Ford's next-generation subcompact for the U.S. market.

Hisakazu Imaki, Mazda's chief executive has said that the Ford plans to apply a new basic vehicle building block which Mazda is developing for the Mazda 2 small car. The platform will also be used for the next-generation Ford Fiesta for Europe. The vehicles are expected to hit the market in the next few years. Once realized, Ford will enter an already busy market -- General Motors already has introduced the Chevrolet Aveo, a Korea-based small car that was launched in 2004 while the Honda Fit, Nissan Versa and Toyota Yaris will all be hitting the U.S. market this year.

One thing’s for sure here, with Mazda at the helm of this planned Ford subcompact car, we can expect something good.

In the meantime, we can keep our Ford vehicles in excellent shape and improve our fuel economy in the process. Getting only top of the line Ford auto parts from trusted online auto parts stores like Ford Parts Online when you need them will also make a difference.