The all-new Ford Mondeo has been launched at the Detroit motor show. The car isn’t due to go on sale until March next year, but Ford has announced it early because the Mondeo’s sister vehicle, the US-market Fusion, has just been revealed at the Detroit show.
As part of the company’s ‘One Ford’ policy, the European and Asian-market Mondeo and the US Fusion have merged to become essentially the same car.
Sources say the new car, which has been engineered primarily in America, is based on an all-new, “10 per cent stronger” platform that replaces the one under today’s Mondeo and the Mazda 6-sourced platform used by the current Fusion. It retains MacPherson struts at the front and gets all-new multi-link rear suspension. Ford claims the Mondeo has again been conceived as a driver’s car.
For now, most of the technical information relates to the Fusion, but Mondeo buyers can expect 168bhp/172lb ft 1.6-litre and 234bhp/250lb ft 2.0-litre turbocharged Ecoboost petrol engines, as well as Ford’s 1.6-litre and 2.0-litre diesels.
The US market also gets the Fusion Hybrid, which uses a 2.0-litre Atkinson cycle petrol engine, electric motor and CVT transmission to deliver 56mpg-plus economy. A plug-in hybrid version has also been announced which promises fuel economy equivalent to around 100mpg with a range comparable to the Chevrolet Volt.
Sources at Ford say although no decision has been made on whether hybrid and plug-in hybrid variants of the Mondeo will be sold in Europe, an electrified C/D segment car is scheduled for a 2013 launch.
The new Mondeo platform has also been engineered to accommodate all-wheel drive, which will be an option on the US-market car powered by the 2.0-litre petrol engine. Stop-start will also be an option on the new model, activated by brake pedal pressure. Lane Keeping Assist, adaptive cruise control, Active Park Assist and a Blind Spot Information System will be available as options, as will a new Active Noise Control set-up, which use the audio system to help cancel out road noise. SYNC, Ford’s in-car internet service, will also be offered on the new Mondeo, after appearing later this year in the UK in the Focus.
The look of the new Mondeo doesn’t stray too far from today’s model but, in keeping with Ford’s new design policy previewed on last year’s Evos concept, the headlamps are much smaller and the current car’s large lower air intake has been shrunk and raised, giving the nose a more than passing resemblance to contemporary Aston Martins.
The new Mondeo has grown in length by just over 13mm, and is 26mm higher. However, it is now 35mm narrower. The sides of the car are now more crisply defined, with a marked ridge running through the door handles and Audi-style sculpting in the lower door skins. The rear end, which features shallow LED tail-lights, retains the closest styling links with the Evos concept.
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Re: Detroit motor show: Ford Mondeo
The more pictures I see of this car the more I wonder if they could pull off a coupe version.........new capri?
Re: Detroit motor show: Ford Mondeo
It seems that every manufacturer (more so premium manufacturers or indeed wanabe premium) is sticking to a very evolutionary path these days. The new 3 series looks like a cross between the old 3 series and the latest 5 series from the rear, Audi always photocopy, and now it seems Ford are doing the same. I think the rear end of the current (previous now?) Mondeo was its best feature, especially post facelift, and this new model enhances that. The front looks ok; ceratinly better than the fish mouth Focus ST. But I think it will age very rapidly.
As has been mentioned in other Mondeo related threads, this could well be the last Mondeo we see in the UK. The segment is shrinking, the cars in the segment below are balooning in size, and the whole of the country is down-sizing anyway.
BMW, Audi et all have won in the UKs saloon/fleet market. I can't see the situation changing anytime soon. Ford and Vauxhall can never truly be considered premium, so why they try is beyond me. If there is to be a new Mondeo after this new one (that sentence sounds weird) then it will need to be a good honest cheapish family car with no ideas above its station.
Re: Detroit motor show: Ford Mondeo
It is easy to see why critics say that this is nothing more than the current model with an Aston nose grafted on, and it is also perhaps a sign that by building world cars Ford are less likely to take a risk with design.