Ford first launched the Ford Ka in Europe in 1996.
The Ka was a small city car designed for crowded urban markets. Its rounded “New Edge” styling made it visually distinctive from many conventional small hatchbacks of the period. Ford positioned it below the Fiesta in its European range.
The first-generation Ka was built on the same general platform family as the contemporary Ford Fiesta and Mazda 121, but its body design and market identity were different. It became particularly popular in the United Kingdom and several other European markets.
The Ka is sometimes confused with the Ford Ka+, a later model that used a different, more conventional five-door hatchback format. The original Ka was a three-door urban car and remained in production in Europe for many years after its 1996 introduction.