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One Ford? Not in the all-important D-Segment. While America’s poncy Taurus languishes in sales, Europe’s Mondeo has been facelifted and is ready for another round of competition. And with a full compliment of Ecoboost four-cylinders and diesels, it’s likely to continue selling well there. Meanwhile, the Fiesta, Focus and more models from Ford’s European stables are headed stateside, but there’s still no word of a global unification of Ford’s D-segment offerings. Given that the Taurus has sold 60k units in the last 12 months, it might be time to consider bringing the Mondeo to America.
60 Comments on “New Mondeo Premieres: Has Ford Taurus A New One?...”
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Even those wheels look better on the Mondeo.
Those wheels… look good.. on ANY CAR.
Ive seen them on Focus, on Fiesta.
I love the triangular / snowflake shape.
I don’t see the Mondeo and Taurus as being equivalent. Maybe the Fusion and Mondeo…if you consider their Mazda6 siblings (and even those are different to meet the needs of their respective markets).
The Taurus a big car, maybe D+ segment and had a market, albeit small one, here in the US. It’s needed in Ford’s lineup. Hopefully, the next major (or first) redo of the Fusion would be in line with the Mondeo, since both were introduced around the same time (mid-naughts). Actually, a slightly narrower Fusion/Mondeo in the states might help the Taurus out a little.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but the D-segment offering in North America is the Fusion, NOT the Taurus which is a full-size car. The Fusion is selling rather well. Why would they want to introduce a car that would compete with that?
Kevin Peterson
There are a dozen issues going on here.
1. To fully incorporate ONE FORD.
2. Besides the existing concept that when the Taurus LEFT, the Fusion and 500 and Freestyle were to take its place. Now that the 500 was a massive failure… all it has is the Fusion to hold its spot albeit at a 3/4 size.
3. Now that Taurus is essentially a restyled 500, and the Exloder being the restyled Freestyle.. many of the parts of the original strategy is still in place.
4. To have the Fusion and the Mondeo in the same market.. would equal a stupid move.. = to Kuga and Escape -Which is why when they get redone.. they will share frames.
5. I doubt Mondeo will come here.. way too much overlap, but it would also eliminate the Fusion as a midsized car for the U.S, against the choppy European Ford Transit Express.
Next gen Fusion is sharing it’s platform with the next gen Mondeo.
I saw these (presumably older model) in Ireland and they are very nice cars.
I’m guessing that:
1. They can’t sell them at a competitive price point, even with U.S. assembly and powerplants.
2. Regardless of interior space, they are not big enough in exterior or engine bay size to compete with the Impala/Avalon/various Buicks in the U.S. market. The U.S. is far from ready to go for engines smaller than a 3.5 liter V6 in this market segment.
Correct on interior space…the Mondeo is more akin to a Fusion, Camry, Accord, Altima, Legacy, Sonata. And maybe even a little bit smaller than those.
Ford is very, very gun-shy about bringing Contour V2 to the states, even if the market and vehicle has changed. Remember the ads back in the mid-nineties? I was only a 12-13 but they proclaimed how Ford spent $6 billion to bring a “world” car that would be perfectly sized for young families. Besides teething problems, the car was an utter failure here. And then decontenting took place to make it compete with cars that were slightly smaller (so that it would seem a better value with more room). With all that said, my aunt had a Mystique (loaded, V6) and it was an absolute great car for them since they had no kids and lived in Houston. She replaced it with a Mariner (loaded, FWD V6) in 05.
If the Fiesta is B segment, that would make the Focus C segment, and the Fusion D segment. The Fusion is the big volume car in the lineup, the Taurus is a full size, whatever silly letter you want to give that. (Can we please go back to subcompact, compact, midsize, and fullsize and forget this letter crap?)
Also, the Taurus has been selling very well, hardly languishing. Of course it won’t sell in the same numbers as Fusions, but that was never the point. Last month it outsold all of it’s competitors except for the fleet queen Impala, and the Charger that Chrysler was practically giving away.
Even so, there are plans to bring the Mondeo stateside. The last roadmap I saw had the next gen Fusion and next gen Taurus moving to the same platform as the Mondeo, so likely we will see something like that around 2013 or 2014.
I think they call the Fusion a C/D size, ergo Taurus is a full D.
Sounds like bra talk to me.
Yep, what he said. Except for the “letter crap” bit. The problem with the traditional categories is that they simply don’t mean what they used to–the cars in all segments keep growing.
Trouble is, it’s Ford that gives us the “letter crap.” Fiesta is B299/B409, Focus is C170, Fusion is CD338, Taurus is D258. This shows that the Fusion, as a C/D, is seen by Ford an in-between class. The Mondeo is EUCD, as in Euro C/D. Both were loosely developed from the C1 chassis, the main difference being that the CD3 was developed for V6s and the EUCD was developed to utilize the 5-cylinder Volvo engine. The EUCD has more commonality with the C1 chassis than the CD3.
No matter. The Mondeo is much more comparable to the Fusion than the Taurus, which is obvious if you ever see them parked together (which does happen if you spend much time in Dearborn). Which makes the premise of the initial post fairly meaningless, because the Fusion has been a success by any measure.
Take that knowledge to ENTERPRISE / rental companies.. and see what you get out of it.
I know what a A, B, C, D, E and or F class car is..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_size_class#USA_regulations
NTM, everybody has a different definition for what a compact, mid-sizer etc is..
rocketrodeo – Ford’s internal platform designations are hardly the same thing as them promoting the lettered car classes.
Also, keep in mind that the Ford Edge is a CD platform vehicle, but hardly C or D segment.
Could this not be the next Fusion instead? How much bigger than the Fusion (and smaller than the Taurus) is it?
I’m with Sammy B. Ford just needs to make this the next Fusion when the current refresh runs its course and all will be well. It would certainly be profitable if they would tool up for it on this side of the pond.
Edit: I just noticed dwford’s post below. If what he says is true, then it’s all gravy.
If anything, this car is much more Fusion than a Taurus sized and I doubt you will see this car in the US anytime soon. For one it is much too expensive to built and consumers would not want to pay $30+ for a mid size sedan from Ford. It also doesn’t fit in with the current Ford US styling direction.
Thats exactly the opposite of what is going on.
The Fiesta and Focus will be a unified design.. Taurus is lining up that way.. and the rest will follow.
We already know the answer to this: the Fusion and the Mondeo become the same car in 2 years. The 2010 Fusion and this Mondeo are just the facelifts of the current generations. The next Taurus will be on a stretched version of the new Fusion/Mondeo chassis.
Exactly on point! That is exactly what scheduled to occur.
I rented a Mondeo in the UK a couple of years ago. Sweet ride with an excellent stick that made me the millionth American tourist to say Why TF can’t Ford do this at home?
Because Americans wouldn’t pay $30K+ for a mid-sized Ford.
For all of the childish chest thumping Ford has done over this re skinned Taurus…it really has not sold to expectations. I see the reskinned Taurus all over the rental car lots. Not good for a so-called flagship.
The Mondeo would be a great choice to replace the lackluster Taurus. It actually looks good…and that it was designed by people who talked to each other…unlike the Taurus that looks as if a different person designed each panel…and didn’t talk to each other.
And aside from the much superior interior (one worth paying money for), one nice thing about the Mondeo is that the rear-end is not jacked up so much that the car looks goofy. Every single Taurus I see, well…all three of them…the back-end has been 10 feet in the air while the front is low? Ford must think, “hey, if the car looks like it is always going downhill…it must get better gas mileage”.
Nothing on Ford’s D3 platform is worth saving. They are all colossal failures. Why else would Ford have to introduce 10 DIFFERENT models in the 5 years of that platform being on the market?
The Taurus is a mediocre car…in every category. The Mondeo is a true world class car (like the Falcon) that should be sold here rather than the mediocre, outrageously overpriced Taurus.
And what is up with Ford’s stock? It has been plummeting the past few days? Are people realizing that Ford cannot ride on the misfortune of the others and at some point will have to start producing some proper, desirable, quality vehicles?
Mediocre?!?!? The Taurus is FAR from being mediocre. I just drove a pretty much loaded one for 4 days (second time) and it’s really a solid, well built and (to me) attractively styled car. Even the kids liked it. It’s biggest issues are price and size — it’s HUUUUGE. But as to price, it’s got lots of content. Why anyone would pick an Avalon or similar over the Taurus is beyond me.
It really is Huge … Put it next to an Explorer and it is every bit as large and nearly as tall!!
Mediocre couldn’t be the furthest from the truth when speaking about the Taurus. I rented one (yes rented) while on a trip in Miami last month. I was able to accommodate myself and four other comfortably as well as 7 very large luggage’s. I drove from Ft Lauderdale to Miami twice (heavy on the gas), also drove from Miami to South beach twice and north beach all on the same tank of gas. I actually did not fill the car up until I was returning it in West Palm Beach. The quality of the material was flawless, as well as the space of the car. If I was in the market for a full size car the Taurus would be my choice hands down! Also, in a few years when I’m ready to trade my 3 series, I will have a close look at the SHO!
@ Z71
“And what is up with Ford’s stock? It has been plummeting the past few days?”
I guess you haven’t noticed or chose not to notice that the stock market itself has been plummeting this week. Funny how that works.
Obviously it tears you up inside to see Ford making a profit quarter after quarter. How’s GM stock doing…..Oh, I forgot.
1st_one –
I’m curious, what was the trim of the one you rented? From what I have read Ford is trying to keep rental sales exclusive to the base SE model in order to keep residual value up on the rest of the line. While the SE is nice inside, it doesn’t even hold a candle to how nice the SEL, Limited, or SHO are.
Yes…mediocre.
The car doesn’t do anything bad…but it does nothing that makes it stand out. The interior is screwed together tight enough…but the materials could be better. Especially the lower half of the dash…talk about cheap. The styling is a mis-mash of Toyota Camry and Interceptor concept…both of which look terrible. It is not that efficient, it’s FWD, etc.
It does nothing that makes it stand above the competition….and now it has been regulated to fleet duty as Ford’s rental and law enforcement queen. Nothing the Taurus does screams “I need that car”. And that is always where Ford fails. They need to make desirable. quality products…not rehashes of 5-10 year old models on 5-10 year old platforms.
I have used the following metrics as my guidelines as they are simple, and seem to work fairly well.
E — Large/Luxury — 200 in. overall length
D — Mid-size/Family — 188
C — Compact — 176
B — Sub-compact — 164
A — City car, Kei — 156
Probably depends on the company, but I never hear A car. I hear sub-B (Ka size) car. Semantic gymnastics I suppose.
VW ran out of categories at the lower-end of the scale and had to add the A00 and A0 below the A-segment.
Why is the Mondeo being compared to the Taurus, when technically it’s ‘D’ segment counterpart stateside would be the Fusion? Cars that are considered ‘D’ segment in Europe, that we happen to get stateside are as follows: Mazda 6 and the Buick Regal. Would you really compare either one of those cars to a Taurus?
On a side note Ford moved almost 100K Fusions in the first 5 months of 2010, and if I’m not mistaken the new Taurus is holding its own in the large car segment.
Mazda6, Fusion and Mondeo are all C/D-segment.
NACD Fusion is derived from Mazda6.
EuCD Mondeo is a stand-alone stretch off the C-segment Focus.
Intent is (or at least was) to unify EuCA and NACD on a global chassis, just like you have seen with Focus.
BTW, I thought Escape was supposed to die when Kuga launches; did something change?
Robert.Walter
Kuga and Escape are going to merge in the next year.
http://www.autoblog.com/2010/06/23/report-ford-to-halt-missouri-escape-production-in-2011/
“The new Escape is expected to be share a platform with Europe’s next generation Kuga crossover”
Robert not sure what you were getting at in your post, but my mention of the ‘D’ segment was in reference to the European standard…..not what we get stateside.
As far as the Escape is concerned production in Kansas City will come to a half after the 2011 MY, and will resume in Kentucky (I think). Which is coincidently where the Kuga will be built. So that in itself should answer your question.
My 2 cents worth:
@Z71–agree with the jacked up back end. I’m really bothered by this look on the MKS; all you see from behind the car is the exhaust plumbing.
@ everyone commenting on A/B/C/D sub/compact/intermediate/etc segment comments–where it makes even less sense is in the rental car world. A Fusion is a mid-sized car at Thrifty, but a standard sized car at Avis.
It is called ripping off the customer at the rental companies.
Why would you want a Mondeo if you can have a Mazda 6 ? Must be a case of the grass being greener in the next mans’field. Ford probably realise that if you could actually buy the Mondeo it wouldn’t look so good anymore.
Maybe there is a difference of who has the wagon or the stick…
Really, the 1st generation Mazda 6 was the Mondeo Mk3 (or some consider the GG chassis the basis for Ford’s CD3 platform). The Contour/Mystique was the Mondeo Mk1 and 2, although looking the same, lots of different body panels (go figure, world car). The latest generation Mazda 6 (GH chassis) is still related to the newer CD3 platform. Fairly different execution, though.
I liked the Taurus when it was released, but to my eyes, it already looks flat footed. Interior design is nice, but class leading?
The Mondeo is a looker, has a wagon version and is likely worth the premium price. The uptick in Fusion sales should signal to Ford that people do want high value cars. Decontent the Mondeo the same way VW decontented the GTI and bring it over.
And oh yeah, emphasize it’s Euro origins for handling in the marketing message. Learn from GM’s mistakes by marketing the Insignia as a Buick.
As others have echoed, find a way to make this financially viable as the next Fusion and please give us the wagon option. To this day I regret not buying one of 2005 Mazda6 wagons that languished on my local Mazda dealer’s lot…
Another vote for the next Fusion, but please Ford, don’t wait too long.
Ford has never done well with European Imports, over 40 years of problems, here in Canada they imported the Ford Fiesta along with Pintos and Bobcats, the Fiesta came from Germany and the Korean built Festiva all disasters imho! also the Contour and Mystique are two others that people should stay away from lets hope there new Cars from Europe will be different?
Ford’s done alright with the Focus, and that’s just as Euro as the Contour/Mystique.
Consider that the Contour was what, 1995? And that’s the newest of the cars you list. Maybe Ford has learned from some of those mistakes.
srogers:
Ford has actually done pretty shitty and pretty damn expensive SHITTY for that purpose.
The current design refresh IS 5yrs old.. cost Ford about a billion dollars. It’s currently sitting on a 10yr old frame, with a non competitive interior. (Forget domestic… go for the Mazda3hatch / GTI, a sporting car with good looks and no design performance compromise.)
And DO remember..
US’s Focus isn’t related to the European one.. which is why it blows so much, on top of why the design flexibility is so damn limited. Ford actually took the time to bring the car over to the U.S and have it produced here, along with the several variations on the frame and Focus vehicle itself over the course of about a yr and a half ago.
And if my positivity towards Ford holds out.. they are a vastly better company and or smaller than they were 10+ years ago. So Id believe that b.s like the Contour b.s doesn’t happen again. Mulally was brought in to fix the company.. and that he’s going to do.. because Bill Ford Jr, does’t have the CHUTSPA to TURN THE DAMN BOAT AROUND.
Geo. Levecque
It is an interesting time in which we live.
Ford is actually focusing its product development around the globe and putting more variations into more vehicles and sharing more frames and utilizing more the same space in more flexible factories. (Something the domestics SHOULD have been doing for the past 30yrs..) But knowing that the Fiesta that will be served up.. will be a wholly different car that what graced U.S and Canuckistan shores.. a good 20yrs ago.
And in the auto industry..
There is no such thing as hope.
Hope didn’t get bring the auto industry to where it is now.
Hope didn’t dole out pressure to G.M and or Chrapsler.. that’s what called DUE DILIGENCE. They earned that.
Hope didn’t put Ford where it is now.. nor did it give them the CREDIT to keep going.
Hope didn’t sell off P.A.G to the Indians and or the Chinese or make them cann Merc.
Its FINALLY seeing the dead weight.. and not worrying about stupid things like nostalgia for Ford badged Mercuries.
Hope isn’t involved in DOING.
The Taurus is a mediocre car…in every category.
Hardly. Excellent road cruiser, decent for it’s size in the sweeps. Interior large and well-trimmed. Engine->transmission strong in league.
Mondeo/Fusion wagon would be awesome.
There was actually review in CAR about.. 4 months ago comparing the Avensis (3;4 Camry) wagon against the Mondeo wagon..
And the Mondeo… looks like its more fun to actually drive.
But it was.. absolutely amazing how SIMILAR those cars were. If ya took off the badges.. you’d swear they were copies. The only differences were 45deg kinks instead of 90deg corners… Amazing picture.
Also..
Ya don’t have to be a car designer / product specialist, to see how badly a Fusion wagon would fail (in the face of sensibility and SUVs / CUVS).
It failed with the Mazda 6 hatch / wagon against the CX-7/9, Tribute.
Its going to fail for Honda with the badly done Crosstour against the CRV / Pilot, and the Accord Wagon for Japan / Europe with the Acura front clip.. against the MDX, RDX and the ZDX.
Just like the CTS-(V) Wagon is going to bomb against the ‘Slade, SRX.
The IS Sportcross failed against the RX and GX.
The Freestyle failed miserably against the Escape, Explorer and Edge.
The Legacy doesn’t sell.. when given the Wagon monkier… which is why its as big as the Escape and or RAV4/CRV.
Even the Germans have to push the Q7, Q5 / X5, X3, X1 / GLK and ML.. against the 3/ A4 or E wagons. The numbers that are produced of wagons.. are diminishing.. quickly. Heck there is no understanding for why the 5 series wagon is STILL produced for Europe and or China.. but we get the 5gt, follow(ed) by the 3gt.
The common theme is.. and always has been.. there is too much competition from the same brand with more CUVs than SUVS.. than there are Wagons.
See if you could pick out which is which..
http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii91/Accorded/MondeovAvensis.jpg
The next generation of Fusion and Taurus will ride on the Mondeo’s platform according to a Detroit News report last year. The Mondeo and Fusion will probably be very similar whereas the Taurus will be a slightly stretched and widened version. The original article is no longer available, but here’s autoblog’s report: http://www.autoblog.com/2009/07/12/report-next-gen-taurus-likely-to-move-to-common-platform-with-f/
This is a stunning car. I mean, really smart and purposefully designed. Hope we get it as the next Fusion.
As others have said, the Mondeo’s US equivalent is the Fusion. This from Autoblog last year:
“The CD3 platform, which is derived from the Mazda6 and underpins the Ford Fusion, Mercury Milan, Lincoln MKZ, Ford Edge and Lincoln MKX, will be abandoned in favor of the Mondeo’s EUCD platform and will be the foundation for Ford’s global mid-size/CD-segment vehicle. Ford of Europe has been tasked with reworking the platform for the U.S., which has been internally dubbed CD4. Expect the Mondeo-based Fusion to arrive in the U.S. in 2012 for the 2013 model year.”
http://www.autoblog.com/2009/01/19/current-ford-mondeo-will-underpin-the-next-fusion/
Or if you prefer, straight from Ford’s official press release:
“Within a few years, the Fusion and Mondeo mid-size cars will migrate to a common global platform, as will commercial vans.”
http://media.ford.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=30791
BTW, I spent a week driving a Mondeo in Ireland about two years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. I hope that spirit finds its way into the next Fusion. Build a wagon version and I’m all over it :).
If I were a betting man I would put money on this being the next Fusion. The current Fusion is based on the last generation Mazda6 and this new Mondeo appears to be based on the recently introduced Mazda6.
Simple math really.
The Mazda 6/Ford Fusion share platforms. The Mondeo utilizes EUCD, they are not the same.
The current Mondeo and Mazda 6 have very little in common. The Mondeo and the Volvo S60, on the other hand, have much in common.
As noted already by multiple people, the next Fusion and Mondeo will be the same car, merged in 2012/2013 on (I believe) a redesigned version of the current Mondeo’s EUCD chassis. The next Taurus, whenever that happens, is also supposed to be derived from a stretched version of that chassis.
Also, the Taurus sells pretty well for a full-sizer (better than everything except the fleet whore Impala and discount-heavy Charger). Its sales are double what they were last year, too, so “languishing” isn’t exactly the word I’d use.
Exactly, SV. Correct on all points, including 2010 Taurus sales. And the percentage of very profitable SHO sales has been running higher than Ford expected.
It is actually quite remarkable how Ford has managed to push the current generation Taurus up-market above the Fusion. The Fusion is essentially in the same segment that the original Ford Taurus occupied while the current Taurus is in many way reclaiming a bit of what used to be LTD territory.
It makes you wonder what could have happened if Ford US hadn’t cut and run from the Contour back when it was a platform mate of the Mondeo.
Its actually not remarkable at all.
The Taurus was designed / destined to go away after the years it spent withering on the vine. It was supposed to be replaced by 3 cars, Fusion, Freestyle and 500. The last 2 cars failed miserably because of Ford own market forces. Its INCREDIBLE that someone could screw up the Taurus name and general size of the car.. to go after the SUV / CUV market. — That’s exactly what happened. The engineering of the Taurus to go away should be met with someone losing their job.– Plain and simple. Its stupid moves like that that show ya how poorly Bill Ford Jr can actually run his company.
Now the Taurus is a lumbering FATASS in the position of the Crown Vic… thats not the position they designed for the car.
LTD is almost a moot point, equaling where the Crown Vic is, was. And now we see the issues with the Taxi and limo services in NYC and their bias towards the Panther frame.
As far as the Contour goes..
It was a failure because of the competition IT itself was up against (Escort, Tempo and Taurus).
Its almost as if Contour, 500 and or Freestyle were blips on the screen.. never actually meant to happen.
Acc azda atch – I’m not certain what the heck your post means. The current Taurus is selling in the numbers that Ford planned, pretty much on target, with the exception that Ford is selling about 60% more SHO models than was originally forecast.
NYC Taxi and limo services better get all the Panther platform cars they’ll want as soon as they can. St. Thomas Assembly is scheduled to close and the Panther be phased out next year, and nothing seems to be changing that schedule. Taurus based Police Interceptor goes into production next year.