Well, here it is. For my take....

The exterior looks good, but not nearly as good as the Iosis X show car or even as good as the 'Bond' Mondeo led us to believe. I don't think it's any better looking than the Fusion and nothing like as distinctive. However, I will say that the Mondeo looks like a more expensive car than the Fusion does giving the appearance of better attention to detail.

The interior is stellar, phenomenal.....let me get out my thesaurus so I can find more superlatives. Well thought out and very cleanly executed are the first thoughts that come to mind. Deft use of brightwork and shapes really show IMO. And the new corporate HVAC controls look far better in this layout than we have thus far seen in new NA Fords.....better executed in fact than the HVAC setup in the new V70 IMHO.

The engines are a real disappointment.....~215hp from a turbo five sucking down premium? That may pass muster in Europe, but I have to believe that Ford is pushing their luck in Australia with this lineup and there is simply no way that this powertrain mix would fly on our shores since the top line engine offers no better power than the old, and oft criticized, 3.0L Duratec but requires premium fuel to get there! They either need to turn the wick on those turbos way up or drop in the new 3.5L Duratec before even thinking about bringing this to American shores.

Overall I think she looks like a winner with smart styling, a good platform, and a killer set of threads.......even if it is likely to be a bit pricey and needs some attention in the engine bay.

What do you guys think?

http://www.fordaustraliaforums.com/f...978#post197978

 

I suppose I should have posted this in other Fords...my bad guys.

 

It would be nice if we could see the actual pics...

 

No worries . . .

I dig the Mondeo! I love the 'Estate' model. That I5 goes up to 300hp in the "R" Volvos, but that would be asking for too much for the Mondeo.

I would like if Ford went on Tour (kind of like they did with the 2005 Mustang) with many of their world models and allow the public to see/touch for ourselves how they stack up to the US model lineup.

 

I tried finding some photos I could link. I will keep looking.

 

You have to be a member on that forum to see the pics so if you want to see them you have to register. And as they are the only source for pics that I am aware of at the moment there isn't much I can do about it. But the two minutes it takes to register doesn't seem like a big deal to me. Or you could always wait until they show up somewhere else.

 

I suppose I'm torn between this and the Fusion for a few reasons. First, this does have better attention to detail on the outside avoiding cost cutting measures like the Fusion's 'easy to assemble' front clip that creates some odd gaps in an otherwise well executed design. The interior is also fare and away superior to the Fusion.

But Ford largely took those approaches with the Fusion to meet a certain price target. It wasn't as though they didn't have a choice in the matter, and they chose price leaderhip wether or not I agree with that strategy. And once you get past the fact that both the Fusion and this really need the new 3.5L V6 to be competitive with the best American market offerings you are left with a minor exterior update and an interior refresh to bring the Fusion on par with the Mondeo. And it would be hard to argue that updating the Fusion would cost as much at this point as dropping the assembly line altogether and bringing the Mondeo over in its place.

Short term I think it makes more sense to ditch the Milan, refresh the Fusion in the ways mentioned above, and bring the Mondeo over as a Mercury offering American consumers both cars and giving Mercury distinct product. Long term the two models need to merge.

 

I registered and it wasn't that big of a deal.

I like it! I saved a couple of the pics. If it's a problem posting them here, I'll remove them.

EDIT: I removed the photos.

 

Just spoke with somebody who is an admin on a European forum and he said Ford has the press release and pics embargoed until the 14th.

 

Photos removed.

 

Embargo what???



Thanks to the Hollywood Extra, no registerin required..

http://thehollywoodextra.blogspot.com/


A shame there's no pic actually showing the gauges, and what's up with the wheels onthe wagon??

 

Looks great.

 

That's a good looking car

 

Just because they're showing it doesn't mean they're supposed to. Happens all the time.

 

And you could create problems for TMS by posting them (which is why I removed the ones I posted).

 

Looks pretty nice. I see a lot of Volvo in the front end.

 

Well then the whole internet has a problem, because they are posted everywhere..

And what is going to happen? The car has been out for months, these pics are nothing but new angles, I removed them because I don't want to suck bandwidth from the Hollywood extra only. On no other site could I find anything about an embargo on the pics, on some other sites they have said that Ford released these pics, so I think there's been some confusion.

 

We're not concerned about the whole internet, we're concerned about TMS. Right now, Brad has a pretty good relationship with Ford but if he has embargoed pics on here, that good will could dry up pretty fast. You may not care if that happens, but I do.

 

How are they embargoed if Ford released them?

 

If I understand the process, Ford will release the photos to the media on the condition that they not be published until a given date. Invariably they leak out.