Ford brings back an old name in the form of the Brazilian-designed Ka Concept.

How small is too small? That’s something Ford is trying to find out with the unveiling of its Ka concept, a microcar design developed in Brazil that it hopes will gain some traction around the world in one of the auto industry’s fastest-growing market segments.

A good bit smaller than the current Fiesta model, the Ford concept revives a name first used on one of the maker’s more eccentric offerings in the late 1990s and targets a subcompact segment estimated to reach 6.2 million sales annually by 2017.

The Ford Ka Concept is the second recent model developed by Ford’s Brazilian studio, following the new EcoSport that is rolling into showrooms from South American to Shanghai.

“Ford has a long history in Brazil, bringing development, jobs and growth to the region,” said the maker’s Chairman Bill Ford. “As an integral part of our global growth strategy, we are committed to bringing world-class products to Brazil and to helping the region create global vehicles for the rest of the world.”

The new Ka Concept picks up on many familiar cues from other Ford global product lines.

The Ka Concept is a compact hatchback incorporating some familiar Ford design cues including the trapezoidal front grille and detailed surface lines, which reflect the design DNA the maker has begun rolling out across its next generation of global vehicles.

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The maker says the raked hood is meant to communicate efficiency and precision, while bold, elongated headlamps add to the long, lean look of the body. Sweeping, curved lines moving from the front of the vehicle to the rear create a sense of movement. Other elements include a roofline that rises from the rear to the trunk lid, with its built-in spoiler.

A production version of the Ford Ka Concept seems highly likely and while the maker doesn’t reveal many technical details, comments by Chairman Bill Ford suggest it is being aimed at entry-level urban consumers in Brazil and other key emerging markets around the world.

With the overall growth in demand for microcars, it remains to be seen if the Ford Ka might also have opportunities in more established markets, such as Europe and, perhaps, even the U.S., where a small but growing market niche is growing up around products like the Fiat 500 and Mini.

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The Ford chairman announced the Ka Concept during a swing though South America that highlights the company’s 100-year anniversary in Argentina. During a stopover at at Ford’s Northeast Industrial Complex in Camaçari, Brazil, the executive noted the Ka would play into a critical market segment.

So-called sub-B compact vehicles are part of a group of downsized niches collectively expected to  increase to approximately 6.2 million vehicles by 2017. Anticipated to grow by 35% from 2012 to 2017, this compact vehicle segment would far outpace the overall industry growth rate by 12 percentage points largely on the back of surging demand from urban consumers in developing countries.

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Ford officials hint a production version of the Ka Concept could launch in 2014.

“The Ford Ka Concept is aimed at customers in growth markets who want and expect more,” said Joe Hinrichs, president of The Americas for Ford Motor Company, who joined Chairman Ford to unveil the new concept vehicle.

Paul A. Eisenstein contributed to this report.