Remember that cutesy little hatchback called Ka that Ford used to sell in Europe back in the day; the one that was designed mainly for female customers? Well, it is now making a return, not as a cutey, but a rather boring ‘global’ family hatchback.

This new Ford Ka Concept was unveiled in Brazil where it will be built, at Ford’s Northeast Industrial Complex in Camaçari, to supply the Brazilian market as well as other emerging markets. So in truth, a ‘global’ car is a cheap economy model that is not good enough for Europe or America.

So the new Ford Ka is, in essence, a discount version of the European Fiesta. It does feature some of Ford’s signature design cues in its appearance, but nothing fancy, and it gets only the basic amenities that make a car livable. In counting the Ka’s features, Ford mentions class-leading fuel economy, a roomy interior with comfortable seating for five, best-in-class air conditioning. Those are apparently enough for an Eco-class hatchback.

With cars like this, the production volume is way more important than quality and that sort of thing, especially as the new Ford Ka is a B-segment contender; a segment that is projected to increase to approximately 6.2 million vehicles by 2017. Anticipated to grow by 35 percent from 2012 to 2017, this compact vehicle segment would far outpace the industry growth rate by 12 percentage points largely on the back of surging demand from urban consumers in developing countries.