Ford EVOS Concept

Making its global debut at the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show in September, the Ford Evos Concept represents the ultimate expression of Ford’s new global design language, and explores key future powertrain and vehicle technologies.

Created as a bespoke concept vehicle, the fastback introduces Ford’s first truly global design language as the momentum of the company’s One Ford product plan continues to build. It’s as long as current Ford Focus and as wide as a Mondeo. It represents a preview of Kinteic 2.0, a more premium and technical interpretation of Ford’s Kinetic design language.

“With its compelling design and innovative technology experience, this is a clear demonstration of the exciting vision we have for the Ford brand. While you will never see this car on the road, the next generation of Ford products around the world will display many of the distinctive design ideas and advanced technologies it showcases,” said Derrick Kuzak, group vice president of Global Product Development.

Ford chose a coupe as the basis for displaying its Kinetic 2.0 design principles as "it’s the most ambiguous way to show a design," according to Martin Smith, Ford’s executive design director. "We don’t have a coupe in our line up and if we were to show Kinetic 2.0 at this stage on a four-door saloon or a supermini everyone would say, ‘that’s the new Mondeo or Fiesta’. It’s hard to pigeonhole Evos and say it’s the next anything as we don’t have a coupe at the moment."

Stefan Lamm, the concept’s exterior designer and the man behind the looks of the Mk2 Focus RS, says the idea of Kinetic 2.0 is to give future Fords a more technical, refined and premium look in a volume marketplace full of fussy ‘me too’ designs.

"We looked at Kinetic cars and tried to simplify them." Chief among the evolution of Kinetic design at the front for Evos is a simpler, higher-set, one-piece inverted trapezoidal grille that is flanked by much smaller laser-cut LED headlamps. In the bottom corners of the lower front fascia sit two neatly integrated simple ‘ring’ fog lights.

Lamm believes this new "face of Ford" will work on any of its future models if the size of the grille is correct. The skinny headlights are unlikely to make it onto a small Ka or Fiesta-sized car due to cost reasons, but all the other features will appear across the range.

This being a concept car, Evos does have a party trick purely for Frankfurt showgoers and one not destined for either the next Fiesta or Mondeo. It’s a four-door car with Mercedes SLS-style gullwing doors front and rear.

"A three-door GT coupe is not clever or innovative," says Lamm, "and a four-door gives you better rear access." The gullwing doors’ hinges are as well hidden as the shutlines thanks to a one-piece glass roof that also makes up the front and rear windscreens.

Speaking of the back-end, a high-set light strip runs right across with lights as slim and as well sculpted as those at the front. "You could see this light treatment in a Mondeo," says Lamm.

While the interior of the Evos may look pure concept car, several elements of it will make their way into Ford’s next round of production cars. So expect to see digital instrument panels adopted by all future Fords, along with a 6in or 8in touchscreen on the centre console that controls navigation, heater and entertainment controls. Ford of Europe’s interior design chief, Ernst Reim, says: "We wanted to reduce the amount of 'hard keys'. The result is a design that is cleaner and simpler, and has an improved interface."