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In terms of both sales and design the first generation Ka is a hard act to follow.
Now 12 years old, not only is the city car's appearance quirky and enduring, it is the biggest selling car in its segment.
The designers for the second-generation vehicle have, however, seen no future in the past, and have avoided accusations of cloning. So although some cues have been taken from its predecessor's moulded outline, the three-door bodyshell is more akin to the new Fiesta.
Inside, the car is strictly a four-seater, and the domed roofline restricts headroom for anyone approaching six feet tall, while the cabin is all ellipses and circles, with the central infotainment stack housing a high-mounted gearlever and ergonomically sound switchgear. Pay an extra £500 over the £8495 Style price tag and that gets you air conditioning and the eminently useful Ford heated windscreen. Meanwhile, the boot can only be opened using the electronic key fob, with no push-button hatch release nor an unlocking switch inside, so beware locking the keys in the boot when loading and unloading.
The new Ka shares development costs, production line and 80% of components with Fiat's retro 500, and as with the 500 the Ka offers customised stripes, decals and lurid orange, green and red trim options. Ford believes this aesthetic emphasis can help attract small style-conscious firms, with a high percentage of women drivers, who previously opted for Smarts.
The Style variant, equipped with Fiat's 69PS 1.2-litre petrol engine mildly tweaked by Ford, will be the business car mainstay. While the car is experiencing an inflated run-out fleet factor of 30% as it heads for the great bodyshop in the sky, fleet sales should revert to a more orderly 15-20% in an attempt to generate a "significant uplift" in RVs from the outgoing Zetec model's 23%.
Ford engineers have used a rear anti-roll bar and 30% softer springs to give the Ka a supple ride quality and tenacious road holding, communicated to the driver via well-weighted, electrically-assisted steering.
But there is no disguising the shortcomings of the 1.2-litre petrol power unit, which transmitted a resonance through the floor pan at 3500rpm. Its nominal 55.4-mpg average is compromised by having to rev it to make brisk progress. Variable valve timing would be useful.
But while the petrol engine underwhelms, the 75PS 1.3-litre diesel is refined, flexible and gutsy, although Ford reckons only 5% of Ka fleet buyers will opt for the £700 premium oil burner.
Inevitably, Ka draws comparison with Fiat's 500, but in driving dynamics and refinement terms it is the Ford that prevails.
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