Ford is thinking about selling its new Ka supermini to the USA as consumers there jump out of big SUVs and pick-ups into small, fuel-efficient cars.

The company's chief executive officer Alan Mulally said the company is revisiting an earlier decision not to take the Ka across the Atlantic.

The new model was unveiled at the Paris Motor Show last week and is due to go into production shortly before hitting UK roads in January.

Currently Ford's smallest US offering is the Focus although it does have plans to add the new-generation Fiesta to the domestic line-up in 2010.

The Ka will follow the tiny Smart ForTwo in trying to crash the US obsessions with big gas-guzzlers now that fuel is £2.30 a gallon and rising.

Mulally did not say when a decision would be taken but added that one reason Ford remains uncertain about importing the Ka is that it isn't significantly more fuel-efficient than the Fiesta.

The Ka is being built in Tychy, Poland, in a joint venture with Fiat that also produces the 500 city car.