The Ford Ka Urban Warrior is a small compact sedan dressed up as a light off-roader. It is like the Škoda Fabia Scout, only with *ss, or the Volvo S60 Cross Country, only cheaper and smaller. It is like the Dacia Logan Stepway, only for Brazil, not Russia. Obviously, this is quite a special car, but still in its concept guise and was revealed at the San Paulo International Motor Show. I told you before, one can see many gems there. The Ka Urban Warrior Concept is one of them.

Exterior

The new Ford Ka entered the realm of city cars in a fundamentally different way than ever before. It rejected all the unconventional character of the first and the second generation and accepted the conventionality all city cars offer. I am not saying that the Ka was better before, but it surely was unconventional. Well, to enrapture the somewhat boring design, Ford prepared a cool Ka Urban Warrior for Brazil and Latin America as a whole, I guess. The car is based on top of the Ka Sedan - a small and rather humble three-box car. The addition to its exterior translated it from a conventional cheapomobil (I’ve invented the word right now I think) into something with character.

Off-road touches such as the body claddings all around the car and underfloor protection transformed the gentle, cheap sedan into a rugged looking machine capable of fighting potholes, uneven roads, and bumps - all of which are all plentiful on Latin America roads. Yup, that is the most important task a car like has to achieve on such roads.

This is not the first time that Ford transferred the Ka into something rugged. The Europeans have the Ford Ka Active, which basically joined the Fiesta Active and the Focus Active in the Ford lineup. The one for Latin America also includes 15-inch wheels with chubby tires and, I’d say, larger clearance compared with other Ka cars. See, the Ka Active in Europe is exactly 0.9 inches higher compared with the regular Ka. I assume it is the same deal with the Ka Urban Warrior in Sao Paulo.

Interior

Moving inside, one cannot actually see anything extraordinary. Except for the fact that the Ka Urban Warrior is quite loaded. Obviously, not many Ford Ka cars are equipped like this. This one is. though. And I am sure that, when it eventually evolves from the Concept guise into its production version, you will not be able to buy it “naked”.

Drivetrain and Performance

As expected, Ford included the most powerful 1.5-liter Ti-VCT engine for this one. It develops 136 horsepower.

Linked to the Ti-VCT is a five-speed manual transmission. I believe, when it comes into saloons, the Ka Urban Warrior will have a six-speed automatic transmission option as well.

Final Thoughts

In order to enrich the Ka offering in Latin America and provide a cheap car that will satisfy all the needs of the drivers there, Ford basically copied the rugged body kit of the Ka Active from Europe and adapted it for use on the Ka sedan.

This car, of course, will never reach any U.S. roads. The Focus Active, on the other hand, most certainly will!

Further reading

Read our full review on the 2018 Ford Ka+.