Ford marketing boss Jim O'Connor has confirmed that a new car priced and sized one notch under the Focus will arrive in 2007 or 2008. Most likely, this new "B-Class" car will be based on the Mazda-engineered platform that is in development to replace the current Ford Fiesta in Europe.

With the Ford SYN-us Concept, which debuted at the 2005 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, the company might be giving us a glimpse of what Ford plans for an entry-level B-class vehicle. Ford admits that it's based on the Fiesta's architecture, but on the outside it looks like Ford has exhausted original design ideas.

Glaze your eyes over and what do you see here? We see a Scion xB dressed up with Ford's new triple-bar grillework, or a miniaturized Honda Element. Take your pick; either way, if something like this lands in showrooms toward the end of the decade, we're fairly certain that young buyers will have tired of the box-on-wheels school of design by then.

Dressed up like a midget Brink's armored vehicle, complete with a tailgate that opens using a four-spoke spinner like a bank vault, the Ford SYN-us Concept is an "urban sanctuary," according to Ford design guru J Mays. Sadly, the best thing about the SYN-us would never make production: The front seats spin to face the rear of the vehicle, where a 45-inch LCD flat-screen monitor displays movies, can be used to surf online, and serves as the rear window of the vehicle via cameras. Sick, yo. Xzibit, just try pimping this ride, G.

Developing power is a turbocharged, intercooled, 2.0-liter four-cylinder Duratorq diesel with 134 horsepower and 236 ft.-lb. of torque, which may not seem like much, but this is a small vehicle - smaller than a Focus. The engine is equipped to run on bio-mass diesel fuel, and delivers power to the front wheels through a five-speed manual transmission. Riding on a front independent and rear torsion beam suspension, the Ford SYN-us Concept's 18-inch wheels and 225/50 performance tires help to improve handling.

Jumping on a design bandwagon is dangerous business. Witness the lukewarm reception that the 2006 Chevrolet HHR is receiving seven years after the Chrysler PT Cruiser first debuted in concept format. Small, square, boxy vehicles make great sense, and the Scion xB has made the look work to its advantage, but fickle young Americans are likely to be looking for the next big thing by the time Ford's planned B-car arrives in a couple of years.

By Christian J. Wardlaw

Photos by Erik Hanson