Large car slump prompts more Mondeo musing

Mondeo could be coming Down Under. That's one of the 'shake out' factors from Ford's decision to slash Falcon and Territory production on the back of continued poor large car sales.

One of the stars of the recent Paris Motor Show (in concept five-door wagon form), the new mid-sized Ford is set to be unveiled early in 2007 and be on sale in Europe before the northern hemisphere Summer.

Beefed and butched up from previous generations, the car was at first considered by many pundits as unlikely to be considered for local release. The continued lacklustre performance of the Aussie large car market could have changed that viewpoint.

Ford has to date said it had no plans to even scope the new medium-plus sized car for local release. However, following his announcements to the motoring media of the Broadmeadows production cuts, Ford Australia boss Tom Gorman confirmed that the new Mondeo was now on the agenda.

"Comments to date [re Mondeo coming to Oz] have been direct and negative [but] I would tell you that we are actively looking at it and it's just a matter of making sure that our dealers want to go after it; want to sell it; believe that there is the right market for it; and that we can get the economics to make sense," Gorman told CarPoint.

"There were some things [models, variants, etc] that we wouldn't have considered even six or eight months ago that as the [local] market continues to evolve and change you do have to think about a little more seriously... Mondeo falls into that category," Gorman said.

Commenting that the new Mondeo had attracted significant positive press from Paris, the Ford boss said: "We think it's a great product and we think there might be some opportunities so we're continuing to look at it."

Ford Australia has not had a serious entrant in the medium car segment since it last sold the Mondeo in 2000/01. The most recent generation of the Mondeo did not make it Down Under.

The new car is bigger inside and out than the current Mondeo and ushers in a new generation of Ford styling. Its 'medium-plus' sizing could see it carve a niche for itself. The availability of the latest diesel powerplants as well as an expected range of four and five-cylinder petrol engines make it doubly attractive.

Though it has been suggested that the Paris showcar gives hints at the look of the new Falcon (still 18 months away) Ford sources say they are very much just hints.