S2000bobster

Will Ford bring the new Mondeo here? Ford lost 12 billions USD in 2006. I always wondered how come Ford won't offer one of its best sellers here. I know they already have a midsize sedan in the Fusion, but it's fugly and not exciting at all. I would definetely have the new Mondeo on my new car shopping list if Ford imports it from Europe!

http://www.autoblog.com/2007/02/13/new-for...ebut-in-geneva/

dcak

From that photo, I really like the shape of that car. The interior seemed nice, too.

S2000bobster

I really like this car! I saw it in the latest James Bond movie and love it ever since.

rockville

I loved the first Mondeo (Contour SVT). The second one was also reported to be very good. It looks like the trend will continue.

As for why they don't sell it here, I can only speculate. I suspect they are afraid that they won't be able to sell it at a high enough price. All three Mondeo platforms were actually rather expensive/ sophisticated. Ford would probably have to sell that car for say TSX money rather than Accord money. Sure the top end Accord price would probably make it viable (say $25k). The killer would be the low end price. I doubt they could make money on say an $19k version.

There is also the question of how it would fit in the lineup. Size wise it's right on top of the Fusion (at least I think it is). So customers might wonder why they should buy the Mondeo instead of the Fusion. This was similar to the issue with the original Contour and Taurus. In '95 the Contour cost about the same as a Taurus. Sure the driving enthusiast knew which was better but the average buyer saw the larger Taurus as a better buy.

All this price overlap means that you might only be able to sell the Mondeo to people who really want one rather than as a volume car. That will certainly hurt volume. It also means that unlike the Fusion, the Mondeo would not undercut the price of the Camry and Accord. Now you have to sell the Mondeo based on it being a better car than the competition. I actually suspect it is but can you convince 100,000 buyers of the same thing?

However, I really hope they do bring it over. Perhaps as an imported car they might be able to sell it at a higher price. So long as they just bring it over from Europe they might do the same thing Saturn is doing with the Astra. The plant is already up and running. Ford might only need to sell 25,000/year to make money. At that volume they might be able to keep the prices high and avoid stepping on the Fusion and 500 sales.

Either way I hope they bring it over. I know the new CEO is interested in doing just that to give Ford something of interest in the showroom. Here's hoping!

bjohnston

Or, Ford could have just exercised some forethought and skipped the development of the Fusion and Five Hundred (Taurus?) altogether. Creating, instead, one midsize sedan for both markets. Perhaps the economies of scale and possibly building some here in the States would eliminate the cost concerns for the Mondeo platform. It absolutely amazes me how there still is little to no commonality between Ford's domestic and European products, especially since the European products are apparently very good. Weren't the Contour/Mystique/Mondeo supposed to be the first of Ford's many new "world cars?" You may be right that Ford cannot sell anything at anything but bargain basement prices here (and that the Modeo may be too good to be marketed here as a Ford). I would say that Ford's brand equity, with respect to cars at least, has to be among the worst in the business. How long have the Crown Victoria/Grand Marquis/Town Car been tarnishing their respective brands? Ford just doesn't get it.

wickerbill

This is the same Ford that has been selling a new and improved Focus for a few years in Europe and is still selling the old Focus here in the US. And then they wonder why their sales are in the crapper.

rockville

I would have liked to see them sell a version of the Mondeo instead of the Mazda based chassis. I certainly think Ford's euro chassis's are generally as good or better than the competition. The Contour's fundamental chassis certainly was.

Unfortunately the price and volumes that may be required to turn a profit are likely to be issues. I suspect the Fusion is fundamentally a cheaper car to build. Really, I don't see a problem with the strategy behind the Fusion and 500. My issue would be the execution. The Fusion is a good car but it comes across as too much cost cutting. The 500 was a low cost development project since it was based on an existing Volvo platform. All around not a bad car but again, to cheap on the inside (though actually well laid out when you get to using it) and blah looking on the outside. The Mondeo happily is none of those. However, I do suspect the platform is probably fundamentally too expensive to fill the price point in which the Fusion sits. I suspect it would need to be at a point similar to the Passat to work.

Then again, as a lower volume import perhaps all these issues would be moot. Certainly Ford could sell 20,000 maybe 30,000 of these in the mid to upper $20k range. That wouldn't be enough to justify making a true US spec version or setting up US production but it could be enough to justify federalization.

Really, although I like Ford and really loved my SVT I think Ford has dropped the ball on product planning in the US. Hopefully that will be fixed soon!

onfire01

looks like they took it from their volvo lineup (ford owns volvo too)

vtec9

I doubt we will see it. We're stuck with the stunning new Taurus instead. Unlike GM, ford doesn't seem to see a reason to give us aesthetically pleasing cars.. at least GM is slowly coming around.

Slamnasty

Pretty much.

Ford has had some killer products in Europe that only some of the rest of the world (or none) gets, and it's unfathomable why Ford has utterly denied the US any of its Euro cars. It seems every time I read a Brit car mag reviewing a Ford of Europe product, they like it on some level (and Brit auto journalists are notoriously hard to please). If the Brits like it, why won't we? I have to think the market analysis team for the US at Ford as been getting it shamefully wrong since 1980.

This can't be a dificult thing for them to do. GM is already making the switch, and it's payiong off. Ford's decisions with regard to the US and its European products are exactly why they are in such a deep hole.