Will Ford Verve hit female nerve?
Ford Verve concept
(Credit: Ford Motor)The Ford Verve concept car was unveiled at a press conference in Hanau, Germany, on Thursday.
As goes the automakers' dance with the media, come car season, Ford distributed photos and a bland release to the press, while saving for the official unveiling at the 2007 Frankfurt Auto Show any possibly juicy details of how this thing might actually run.
The car is an example of how the company now has an eye toward small cars, and it will be the first of three cars that Ford plans to reveal this season in Europe, Asia and North America. The "rich colors and distinctive materials" of the Ford Verve concept car were "inspired by the world of fashion and cosmetics," Ford said in a statement.
We've seen plenty of cars with lush interiors and fashion-forward design inspiration, but cosmetics? Is Ford looking at the many misplaced efforts in the tech industry to attract what it thinks the average female consumer is looking for?
The cat eye headlights do seem a bit much. Ford might as well make it Legally Blond pink and write "Wanted: Female youth market" on the windshield.
At least no one's voting for these concept cars on the Internet.
Ford Verve concept car
(Credit: Ford Motor)
In a software-driven world, it's easy to forget about the nuts and bolts. Whether it's cars, robots, personal gadgetry or industrial machines, Candace Lombardi examines the moving parts that keep our world rotating. A journalist who divides her time between the United States and the United Kingdom, Lombardi has written about technology for the sites of The New York Times, CNET, USA Today, MSN, ZDNet, Silicon.com, and GameSpot. E-mail her at candacelombardi@gmail.com. She is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not a current employee of CNET. 
But being a Ford I'd have to wonder about quality. Better have a 100K bumper-to-bumper warranty.