Ford Ka prices

Ford has announced the pricing for the its all-new baby. The 68bhp, 1.2-litre Ka will start at £7995 for an entry-level Studio, which packs ABS, power steering and an iPod compatible CD player, but not a lot else. £500 more bags you a Style, with electric windows, mirrors and central locking while another £500 on top of a style adds air con and a heated windscreen.

The top spec Zetec - which Ford reckons will be the range's biggest seller, shifting 40 per cent - boasts fog lights, 15in alloys and a trip computer, and has a price tag of £9495 for the 1.2 or £10,195 if you'd prefer it with a 74bhp 1.3-litre diesel engine.

It means the Ka is priced above city car rivals such as the Fiat Panda and VW Fox, and just £700 below a better-equipped Fiesta. However, the Ka is likely aiming at a different market - the same one as the near-identically priced Fiat 500, which prioritises style slightly higher than outright value.

The Ka is based on the baby Italian, sharing around 80 per cent with it under-the-skin. Exterior-wise the two have similar goals, too, with Ford offering various packages to liven up the styling and make cars more individual with stripes, spoilers, alloys and graphics.

It should help launch the Ka onto the radar of young drivers, who already drive the original, 12-year-old Ka in abundance - giving the Mk2 a hard act to follow. The outgoing car is destined to be a future classic, following mould-breaking city cars of the past such as the 1950s Fiat 500 and the original Mini.