Comments
Ehab Kaoud is the Chief Designer, Ford North America, based in Dearborn, Michigan. He is responsible for all car exteriors developed in the US, including global products. Prior to this, Kaoud led Ford’s South American studio in developing products for developing markets, based in Brazil.
In Delhi for the auto expo, Kaoud spoke briefly to Business Line after Ford unveiled the concept of a sub-four metre compact sedan Ford Figo Concept. Excerpts from the interview:
Was the four-metre limit the biggest challenge?
It was. When we first started, I was worried about it. How do we do this and how do we do this right. It really comes back to working hard and getting the proper proportions and in dividing up the car in the right way so that it doesn’t look like it is compromised. Because 4,000 mm means horizontally you are squeezing it and vertically you are pulling. It makes the car usually look clumsy. How do we take care of that from the surfacing standpoint, from the proportions of the glass to the body. The proportions of the wheels and where the wheels are at. And the wheels are sitting on the ground, planted and glued to the ground so that it doesn’t look like it is going to fall over. I kept telling the designers no tin can. We have got to give it muscularity. We have got to give it fullness in sections. That it looks more expensive than it is.
What was your mandate when you set out on this?
4,000 mm actually. That was the biggest thing. And space on the inside.
How have you been able to achieve that, the space on the inside?
If you look at the car and if you look at the relationship of the A pillar to the C pillar and the back, and where the wheels are at, literally it is a small footprint on the outside with the wheels pulled out as far as possible and the A pillar pulling in both ways to give the internal area more space. And, then the rest of it is sort of icing on the cake. You put a line here, a line there to make to sure it accentuates that look and it doesn’t look compromised.
Are there other markets this car can be made?
Right now it is for the auto show that is here. And, it is a concept car. We are One Ford and we are Global One Ford.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.