Today Ford took the wraps off its concept replacement for the Fiesta compact, offering what the company calls a "significant hint" to the appearance of its new world-wide family of small cars.

The new model, a two-door that will officially debut at IAA in Frankfurt next month, has been christened the Verve. It will be sold as a production model in Europe, Asia, and North America.

Availability in Europe is slated for late 2008 with sales in Asia and North America beginning sometime between 2008 and 2010.

The company's design director in Europe, Martin Smith, described the Verve as a chic small car with modern styling chosen to suit the "demanding and fashion-conscious" driver.

Featuring an aggressive front grill with headlights sweeping back over the front wheels, the Verve's overall look is aerodynamic, yet slightly chunky, reminiscent of many current "crossover" styles.

Earlier in 2007 the company, as part of its recovery strategy, formed a global engineering team to develop a family of small, next-generation vehicles.

Regional teams from Asia, Europe, and North America were merged into the new unit, which is headquartered in Cologne, Germany.

Approximately 1 million units of the Verve (and the Mazda2, which shares the same platform) will be produced and sold globally.

In the coming months Ford will introduce two more small concept cars at auto shows scheduled to be held in China, Germany, and Detroit.