The Verve is going to be the basis of the next B-class car for the company, which in layman terms means the new Fiesta, so it has got to have a strong new look.

Ford will not confirm officially that this is going to be the basis of the new Fiesta but expect the Verve, which goes on show at Frankfurt next month, to be toned down by the time it gets to the Paris Motor Show, when the final design is expected to emerge. The new Fiesta goes on sale here in 2009.

Ford is using kinetic design to build the new Fiesta. This was the kind of design structures which brought the new Mondeo, C-MAX and S-MAX to the forecourts.

They have been successful and are getting a good response from the public.

In the run-up to creating the Verve concept, Ford went to Italy and asked style-conscious young women what type of new small car they would like.

"A sprinty car" was the response which surprised Ford but the designers believe they have succeeded in incorporating a "sprinty" look in the Verve.

Apparently the big grille, swept back lights and unique side-window design went down well with the ladies. "They fell in love with the bold face, the sweptback headlights and the neat rear-end, " a Ford designer said.

Ford says the reaction to the concept has so far been positive. In fact, they are so confident that it will take an important place on the Ford stand at Frankfurt.

The interior is as dramatic as the exterior with bright colours, an option of a big screen in the dash area, sport seats, good elbow room and a protruding centre console which is configured to look like a mobile phone.

The Verve will be finetuned to become a global car for the big markets of North America, Asia and Europe.

Top Ford designer Martin Smith has been given the task of coming up with a design for the Fiesta replacement. It must be very modern as buyers want their new cars to look different from current models.

And Frankfurt will see the launch of the cleanest Ford cars to date, called Econetic models.

These cars will use a combination of the latest common-rail diesel powertrains to reduce CO2 emissions to the absolute minimum.

The first to be launched by the end of the year will be the Focus Econetic which will deliver best-in-class CO2 emissions for conventional powertrain technology at just 115g/m.

The new Ford Econetic is powered by an efficient 109 PS 1.6-litre diesel engine with particulate filter, delivering an average fuel consumption of just 4.31L/100km, which is not far short of 70mpg.

This has been achieved by reducing drive resistance and improving aerodynamics, which is done by lowering the vehicle, adding an aerodynamic kit and using special tyres.

The result is a wind-cheating drag coefficient of 0.31.

The driving resistance was reduced by using a low-viscosity transmission oil, developed by BP, which will be used in larger Ford cars in the future.