Is Ford Going To Drop The Mondeo Name?

"Speedmonkey" (Speedmonkey) 12/12/2013 at 12:03 • Filed to: Ford, Ford Fusion, Ford Mondeo

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Richard Eaton caught this 2014 Ford Mondeo on the M62 recently. It was travelling in convoy with another 2014 Mondeo and a current model Mondeo. We've already seen the 2014 Mondeo, but this one has some secrets up its sleeve.

Ford announced the fifth generation Mondeo in 2012, and displayed it at the North American International Auto Show that year.

Launch was meant to be Autumn 2013 but was delayed until Autumn 2014. This explains why the Mondeo Richard saw was first registered on 11 June 2012.

The delay was cited as being down to " …quality issues ". I.e. Ford just couldn't get the 2014 Mondeo right. It may also have something to do with the fact that Europe has only just come out of recession, and the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .

But look closely at the photo. The badge says Fusion, not Mondeo. And it's a right hand drive car.

That's strange?

Maybe, just maybe Ford are planning to drop the venerable Mondeo name in the UK. The US market version of the Mondeo is called the Ford Fusion.

Don't think Ford won't drop the Mondeo name. We already know the forthcoming !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .

The car Richard spotted has one further trick up its sleeve. It is registered with DVLA as having a 1000cc engine. Therefore it uses the 123bhp, 1-litre, 3-cylinder EcoBoost engine. The 2014 Mondeo weighs around 1500kg so 123bhp should be just enough to tug it along.

duurtlang > Speedmonkey 12/12/2013 at 12:10

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I doubt Ford is going to drop the Mondeo name. I'm quite sure they're not going to name it the Fusion though, as I doubt future 'Mondeo' buyers want to be associated with the previous European market Ford Fusion (2002-2012). It was like a tall Fiesta wagon clearly intended for old people.

Speedmonkey > duurtlang 12/12/2013 at 12:16

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Remember that manky old thing. To be found doing 40mph everywhere

Nibby > Speedmonkey 12/12/2013 at 12:17

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The 2013 Ford Fusion is an excellent car... rides well, handles pretty decent, quiet, roomy. It's got a few small flaws like the fact that one of the letters on ours has already fallen off but they fixed it for free.

Speedmonkey > Nibby 12/12/2013 at 12:21

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I drove a current (i.e. outgoing) model Mondeo recently. Great car with the shittest infotainment system I've ever seen. Even worse than the aftermarket Pioneer affair in the BRZ. It's like PacMan but without the fluidity and incredible graphics...

Nibby > Speedmonkey 12/12/2013 at 12:27

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Oh yeah I forgot to mention Ford Sync isn't very intuitive. I agree with what you said, but it's not as bad as MB's COMAND used to be and BMW's iDrive.

UserNotFound > Speedmonkey 12/12/2013 at 12:30

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Maybe they'll drop the Mondeo name and then start selling the wagon version in the U.S. too?

megalomaniac > Nibby 12/12/2013 at 12:36

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iDrive isn't that bad, you just need to think like a German Engineer who doesn't understand the concept of a UI.

Speedmonkey > Nibby 12/12/2013 at 12:41

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COMAND is fine nowadays. The best version is in Mercedes vans, because it's a simplified version!

Paul > Speedmonkey 12/12/2013 at 14:57

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I just ran the plate through a freely available service that reports back with some information on the car. This one is definitely interesting:

Make: Ford

Model : None

Colour : Black

Fuel : Petrol

Engine Size : 1000cc

First Registered : 2012-07-11

Compared to reports on other cars, it's unusual. Most cars actually have an entry for their 'model' and also their body style (in this case, it should be a saloon, to use the British English term).

I guess it's not impossible the Mondeo nameplate could disappear, but that might simply be a way of protecting any information on a press/pre-release car. Although if the information is reliable, a 1000cc engine? That would put it in three-cylinder EcoBoost territory, which is unusual.

Speedmonkey > Paul 12/12/2013 at 15:21

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1 litre EcoBoost should be in the line-up next year. The Fusion badge is really weird. It could be a spare tailgate from an actual Fusion. But why? It's a right hand drive car. The no body style and name is odd too. Maybe I'm reading too much into it but it does look odd

Paul > Speedmonkey 12/12/2013 at 15:52

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It looks a bit off to me as well - the Fusion badge isn't mounted in the same place as the badge on the Mk4 Mondeo, and that might be part of it.

The little details do point to it being a Fusion of some kind, actually. The badge is mounted in the same place as it is on the actual Fusion, and it doesn't have the same rear lights as other Mk4 Mondeos. Plus, based on the angle the Ford badge seems to be mounted higher than it is on a Mondeo. The reference picture above puts the oval near the lowest point of the lights, while the 2014 car has it near the highest point of a different style of lights.

Yet the exhausts don't seem to correspond with a Fusion or a Mondeo - in fact the whole bottom part of the bumper looks unpainted, and it has a tow-bar. I'm honestly intrigued by what this is now, because it has a few details pointing to a Fusion and a few pointing to Mondeo. It nearly looks like a mongrel in some ways, but having not seen any revisions or redesigns for the 2014 model year, it could be anything. For now it's strange, though.

Speedmonkey > Paul 12/12/2013 at 16:10

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Can't see the image unfortunately. You know your stuff!

Paul > Speedmonkey 12/12/2013 at 16:22

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Not sure if that image will appear, but that's the one I was basing my estimates from. I can always find something to do as an alternative to actual work, and I'm just lucky that it was car-related this time.

Pockets > Paul 12/14/2013 at 06:32

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The DVLA cock it up all the time, I've had so many things happen like that (missing models, body-type errors or missing etc). Never blame a conspiracy when the option of DVLA incompetence comes up.

Paul > Pockets 12/14/2013 at 07:38

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I can't disagree with this, to be honest. I've seen far too many inconsistencies and mistakes across near-identical cars to ever really trust the DVLA. I've never seen the engine size to be so far out, but you're right. There's every possibility it's not a conspiracy at all, and it's just the DVLA recording things oddly.

Pockets > Paul 12/14/2013 at 08:15

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It wouldn't surprise me if they were testing out the 1.0 engine; it's not like it's a completely random number. As the owner of a car with a v5 that says estate instead of hatchback and previous owner of an Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo and Citroen " ", those bits seem like paperwork errors to me.

Paul > Pockets 12/14/2013 at 14:38

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The Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo, the car so nice they named it twice.