Without giving any details, Ford India Ltd Chairman, Terry de Jonckheere and Managing Director Philip Spender told newsmen that the mid-sized car is set for a launch in November-December.

Ford Ikon, to be rolled out in both petrol and diesel versions, will have a local content of 70 per cent and will be Euro II compliant. The engines and transmission system will be imported from South Africa and Europe and the company plans to indegenise these processes over the next 3-5 years.

The company, however, was tightlipped about the price of the new car. "All we can at this juncture that Ikon willbe competitively priced. We are keeping our options open in view of the changing market," Spender said.

Prototypes are being tested and the Chennai-based plant would initially produce 20,000 cars, Jonckheere said. The plant has a capacity of 50,000 units and can double its capacity, if necessary.

Nasser said Ikon has gone through rigorous testing for India's lifestyle, culture and environment. ``Ikon will have enough headroom to accommodate a man's turban, enough entry space to keep saris from getting snagged and enough ground clearance to handle local road and weather conditions,'' he added.

Jonckheere said the car would be slightly bigger than Tata's Indica and a derivative from the Ford Fiesta platform. It would be a three-box car, with no hatchback models and manual transmission. The company is now banking on Icon to break even as its earlier model Ford Escort turned out to be a complete failure for the Indian markets.