Topnotch

http://www.worldcarfans.com/11309036...-trim-due-2015

Topnotch

The Vignale takes its inspiration and name from the renowned Italian designer, Alfredo Vignale (1913 – 1969), who has an historical connection with Ford’s European design heritage. His Carrozzeria Vignale company produced many stylish, coach-built sports cars during the 1950s and ‘60s and joined Ford Motor Company’s De Tomaso Automobili in 1969.

Topnotch

Topnotch

http://www.carscoops.com/2013/09/for...ickstarts.html

Evil_Capri

Looks good in my opinion. I like it better than our Titanium . . .especially the Wagon!

Fenderaddict2

I can see that treatment on the more upscale Fords, a flush version in plastic on mid level cars and recessed somewhat on standard Mustangs with deep inset revised grills on performance models culminating in the deeply recessed "no-grill" look for the top line performance cars.

tukatz

I'm not wild about the front end. It makes the car look like it has an underbite.

Stage_3

Looks like a great grill for a 4 door sedan. What car is that?!

Twin Turbo

Mondeo..........which is the same as your Fusion

Zastava_101

Nice.

=HYPERDRIVE=

That metallic brown would look total boss on a mustang. With some good wheels, maybe some stripes.

zbrewha863

Holy **** I love that interior. And the bag. Any way I can just get that for the Mustang?

T5owner

Interesting Vignale interviews - "Ford moving up"

Zastava_101

Its funny ... They're introducing Vignale to compete against premium companies; yet, at the same time they're introducing Escort to compete against cheaper Škodas and Dacias.

zbrewha863

How is that funny? They are competing against multiple vehicles in different categories, even Hummer and Bentley diversified their offerings....

Zastava_101

Buyers of premium vehicles usually wanna show the size of their wallets. Its kinda hard to convince somebody to spend 40,000 euros on a Mondeo when its parked on the same dealership lots as 9,000 euros Fiestas and 12,000 euros Escorts. Especially in Europe.

zbrewha863

That's completely untrue. First, Ford is considered an upscale brand overseas, where its rally pedigree and import status make it more upscale than it is here in the USA.

Second, there are many kinds of buyers in the premium car segment. Some just want to show off their money and don't care what they get, but most actually have the money to buy lots of different cars, so they focus on what they want instead. Things like the ride, interior, power, economy, and prestige all factor into it.

That might be why Ford coupled with Vignale to add prestige to the car, but the Mondeo is already a very popular line in Europe. This is kind of like adding the SHO model of Taurus -- not a lot of people who buy a Ford Taurus are going to spend $40k on one, but if you want a low-key vehicle that gives you a lot of nice features you would normally pay much more for, it's a good buy.

Twin Turbo

Sad, but true.

Not really true.

I don't think Ford has ever been considered an upscale brand, at least not here in the UK. But there WERE upscale trims that were aspired to.That's not to say Ford doesn't have a loyal following these days, because they most certainly do, although the Ford enthusiast prefers the classic RWD models from the 70s, such as the Escort, Cortina, Capri and Granada.

Back when the above cars were in their heyday, there wasn't nearly as much global competition as there is now. The Japanese were only just getting started, so they were off the radar. Of course, there were BMW and Mercedes and Jaguar, but they were deemed so far upmarket as to be almost irrelevant to the man in the street. And that was fine, because Ford had him covered.

These days, people want all the luxuries in even the most "cheap" cars. Not back then. Your Cortina would come in 1.3 or 1.6 basic "L" spec, when vinyl seats and a radio were all you'd get. "GL" would bring plusher cloth seats and maybe a cassette player. Want luxury? That was "Ghia" spec, velour seats, maybe even electric windows and a sunroof. The bigger engines were usually only available in the higher specs.

Fords in the 70s were synominous with the company car. So, the higher up the corporate ladder you climbed, the better spec Ford you had. So, the Company MD would be in his Granada 2.8 Ghia, whilst the sales rep travelled the country in his Cortina 1.6L

Back in the "good old days", but spec badge on your car was what was important. Sadly, now, it's the marque badge that signifies your status in life. A bog standard BMW 3 series is deemed better than a Mondeo Titanium. And that's reflected in sales as the 3-series outsells the Mondeo.

zbrewha863

True, but the Mondeo has been outdated for so long that it's hard to imagine it outselling much of anything. Plus all you Brits are so high on your diesels now!

I haven't been to the UK in a few years, but I remember there were a lot of people after the SVT Focus (the Rally one that was only available overseas), and people kind of treated Ford like a legendary racing company. Here, not so much. I guess I should have said it differently -- in the UK, Ford is seen as a nice car, in the US it's seen as a people-mover, except for certain models like the Mustang or GT40.

Twin Turbo

It's true that Ford's motorsport heritage means a lot here. That was built from success in the 60s, 70s and 80s. The last couple of decades? Not so much