Ford eyes Mondeo, entry-car for U.S. market

[Stephen]

By Mark Rechtin
Automotive News / June 22, 2002

Ford Motor Co. has made room in its North American product lineup to bring in the next-generation Mondeo from Europe, Ford COO Nick Scheele said. Ford also will enter the low-priced entry-level car market to compete against the Koreans.

In a meeting with journalists on Saturday, Scheele would not confirm that the Mondeo is coming for certain.

Ford should have a sedan in the segment that was occupied by the Ford Contour and Mercury Mystique, Scheele said.

“We’ve got to have one,” Scheele said. “It feeds into our cycle plan.”

The current Europe-market Mondeo offers three four-cylinder engines, one V-6 and a turbo-diesel.

At the entry end of the car lineup, Ford will bring in a Brazilian-built version of the Fusion all-activity vehicle. However, it will be seriously modified from the Europe-market version, which will have a 1.1-liter engine and a five-speed manual transmission. The American-market version will most likely have a 1.8-liter or 2.0-liter engine, as well as an available automatic transmission.

“If we duck taking on the entry level, we lose the customer,” Scheele said, “If you lose the first-time buyer, you have a hard time getting them back.”

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For those who don't know, the Mondeo is the car that the new Jaguar X Type is based off of. It has a sort of Contour flavor, very european.

 

[FrankRizzo]

If the Contour/XR4Ti/Mercur European stuff did not work out in the US, why try again?
Why not build an extended cab Lightning, or a sport Explorer/Expedition? You know those would sell - at higher gross-per-unit, I might add.

What did it cost and how long did it take to bring the old Modeo/Contour/mistique over here? IMHO - Jeez, learn from your mistakes - Jaquie

 

[Stephen]

I personally think its a good move. I've never driven the Mondeo, but I have driven the X Type, and from what I hear the chassis is all but the same. Its a great platform, very rigid. As the article says, you have to capture the low grade market if you dont want to loose the customer nowadays. Look at the success of the Focus, it was bred in Europe. Building the high end sport trucks would create sales, but thats not really what Ford is trying to do here. They dont want to sell more vehicles to more current Ford customers, they want to take customers from companies like VW that have edgy european vehicles. A sport truck won't do that. The Contour was a bad attempt, sporty, but not enough, lets see what they can do this time.

 

[FrankRizzo]

Point taken about the Focus.
The Sierra Cosworth RS was a nice car in Europe, but it did not tranaslate well in the US as an XR4Ti
The Opel Vectra is a great car in Europe, but Cadilliac abandoned the Catera in 2001.
The list of failed european transplants goes on...
"They aint us" - Some things do not translate well from Europe to the US. The driving styles are too different.

As a Ford stockholder, my opinion, again, is to focus and expand on the current market segment they dominate. The Mondeo is an answer to a question that no one asked.

 

[Stephen]

They actually didn't abandon the Catera, its now the CTS. They just lost the dorky "duck" styling and made an......interesting car (one of the ugliest on the road I think).

As for the other european cars, if the Mondeo feels anything like the X Type then I think it will do well. The X Type is firm and european without being cold and mechanical like the Contour was. As for the X4RTi, they also had the problem of launching a whole new line of vehicles with Merkur.

I personally think the Mondeo move is a smart one. Actually the market big shots have been asking for it for a while. Every year makers like VW steal buyers from Ford because they have sportier, less expensive little cars that young people weren't emberassed to drive (a'la Escort). They have the Focus now, and it has done some good work. Its a funky little car with a lot of fun and an image that doesn't yell "I'm poor, come help me". Problem is, after these people are a little more upwardly mobile whats going to keep them from getting into a larger Jetta or Passat? The Taurus? The idea of that is almost laughable. I think you'll start seeing Ford move away from the pedestrian kind of car line the Escort/Contour/Taurus was and move into a sportier, edgier, more european type of car. I think this is a great thing for Ford. They're the only american car company (like there are any anymore) that is starting to break out of the "American car" mold and give the buyers what they want, and what they've been paying a premium for to foreign brands. Ever sat in a Focus? Has more quality and a more of an expensive feel than the most expensive 90's model Ford ever did, including our Explorers. It rides solid, the doors close with a solid feel reminiscent of my Lexus, the doors on my Explorer clang like tin. Drive a Focus and compare it to a Chevy Cavalier or a Toyota Corolla, or even a Honda Civic, I'd take the Focus anyday. This is the future for Ford cars and I think its fantastic.

 

[Chief]

It's horrible that I have to come trotting all the way into here to talk to my bud Stephen...LOL. Not to degrade the forum...

Stephen, give us a sign of life! E-Mail, IM, visit ANC, something!

Anyway, we're likely going to see the next Mondeo because the next Focus will be using a shortened version of the new Mondeo's platform. It wouldn't be too expensive for Ford to sell it here.

EDIT: Talk about being a long time since I've posted here. I never did get the SC430 or the A8...you can thank the stock market.

 

[Chief]

Originally posted by FrankRizzo
If the Contour/XR4Ti/Mercur European stuff did not work out in the US, why try again?
Why not build an extended cab Lightning, or a sport Explorer/Expedition? You know those would sell - at higher gross-per-unit, I might add.

What did it cost and how long did it take to bring the old Modeo/Contour/mistique over here? IMHO - Jeez, learn from your mistakes - Jaquie

Because the Contour was a lame duck and it failed in the department that family sedans are viable for: hauling the kids. The Contour had a small rear seat, and I think that clobbered the potential sales of the Contour. It had it's faults, but other than that, it wasn't bad. The XR4Ti wasn't a very exciting vehicle, it was ugly in my opinion, and it never shocked me that it failed to sell.

Stephen: You commented that you'd take a Focus any day, but given that the Focus is up to it's 9th recall, wouldn't you perhaps take that into accountability as a reflection of the quality of the vehicle as a whole?

 

[espnfreak]

Ford just needs to put some massive power in its cars. Nissan is starting to do this with the sentra altima maxima and z car. Its working too, because some altimas are selling above MSRP

 

[FrankRizzo]

Originally posted by Chief


Because the Contour was a lame duck and it failed in the department that family sedans are viable for.....

I can't really find the German/Opel parts in the new POS Cad. CTS, maybe because I can't get close enough without chipping.
Why didn't the Scorpio sell over here? It had plenty of room. The European translation into the mainstream american car dealers rarely works. Ford labors under delusions that they will pry Mr. Middle America out of his Crown Vic/Expedition and into a Mondeo, and it ain't gonna happen.
Man I wish I saved all the TIME Magazine articles when the Contour was coming out in the early 90's and how Ford was touting it as the "world car" (a la Escort - hey now there's concept that worked). I can still hear the "thud".

I don't dispute that the cars in question a good cars. I lived in Europe for 4 years and would eat lunch off the picnic table/whale tail of the Sierra cosworth RS, the car is not really the issue, it's the application to the market.
As a stockholder, I'd like you to be more careful with my money (or should I be more careful given your poor judgement, Ford?)

 

[Soundguy01tx]

Ok well Here I am to offer my take on the issue. Ever since visit Europe a year ago, I have loved to Mondeo. I was able to actually visit a Ford dealer while in the UK and check out some vehicles. I see the Mondeo as a great answer to Ford ever pressing issue of desining a "cool" car that isnt a sports car. Come on and face it, maybe you and I can go buy a Mustand if we want, but many kids (teens) have to beg their parents to say ok. A Mondeo has a stylish enough look to be cool, but its still not the sports car parents hate to buy their kids. I think it will do well over here. It may not be a nmber 1 best seller, but I know I would get one.
--bryan

 

[Stephen]

Chief! Been a long time. Sorry I haven't been around, been swamped etc, now we're in Ocean City for two weeks. When we get back I'll stop in and see how everyone is doing. Tell them all I say hi. As far as the Focus recall history is concerned, I didn't take that into account. Whatever Ford brings over and sells its going to be a recall nightmare, we all know that at this point. I was comparing the cars soley on the "fun" and "desirability" factors.

 

[Mellotron]

Do you have a phot of this car? I might be interested if it were a turbodiesel.