SPY PICS: Ford Ka surfaces in Geelong

Ford's micro hatch for international markets, the Ka, has been snapped undergoing local testing.

The heavily camouflaged vehicle was shot by regular reader Roo, in his local stomping ground (Geelong). Giving chase he took a short cut that not only brought him out on the road ahead of the test vehicle, but also placed him right at the point where the vehicle was to rendezvous with an undisguised Hyundai i20 – a new i20 in left-hand drive... the one not sold here...

The driver of the i20 was not happy to see Roo snapping pictures of the Hyundai, and took off quick smart. The disguised hatch also made a getaway, but not before Roo grabbed a few more shots.

At first we thought the camouflaged car was a Hyundai Kona, given the presence of the i20. We’ve heard that Hyundai Australia has a couple of the small SUVs here for local suspension calibration. But this vehicle looked nothing like the Kona.

Hyundai told us it definitely wasn’t one of theirs, both of which were parked below the importer’s office building in Sydney at the time. Hyundai did, however, point out that the i20 was probably brought in from Europe, since the Indian model would have been right-hand drive.

Ford has form for testing cars in the Geelong region, and the disguised hatch was quite small, so a quick search of the internet revealed it to be a Figo hatch or the latest generation of Ka. As a hatch, the Figo is essentially the Ka renamed. There’s a booted version as well, sold in Indian and South Africa, but the Figo is right-hand drive.

So this Figo incognita – plainly left-hand drive – is more likely a Ka. Why Ford Australia had it so heavily disguised is a point for discussion (and argument), but the i20 could be a red herring to throw passers-by off the scent, or Ford is benchmarking the Ka against the i20 for some specific reason.

What stands out about this is Ford Australia’s spreading wings – now seemingly involved in vehicle development for parts of the world other than just the Asia/Pacific region.