MIMS: Mondeo TDCi wagon is the shape of things to come?

Mondeo is a bright star in Ford Australia's firmament. Not the brightest, perhaps -- that honour is still reserved for the FG Falcon, yet to go on sale. Sales for the Mondeo haven't been astronomical from the car's release, but that may change.

One prospective part of the strategy to improve the Mondeo's standing in the Australian market is the introduction of a wagon version. Ford has given a Mondeo TDCi wagon pride of place on its stand in Melbourne, to test public reaction. The Mondeo was positioned dead centre, with different variants of the FG Falcon arranged around it. This car is quite important for Ford.

The vehicle itself is a TDCi model, with the turbodiesel engine, as the name suggests. Whether that hints at Ford's aspirations for the car remains unclear. At this time, the car is here to test the water -- and nothing more.

Developing 129kW of power, but more importantly, 400Nm of torque, the engine powering the Mondeo wagon provides the necessary herbs to cart family and luggage around with relative ease -- and without serious detriment to the hip pocket.

The equipment level for the Mondeo TDCi wagon mirrors that of the sedan and hatch models, offering a raft of safety features such as ABS, EBD, Emergency Brake Assist, automatic hazard warning lights and seven airbags -- including a knee airbag and side curtains.

On the convenience and comfort side of the ledger, the Mondeo wagon comes with a Sony six-disc CD player with eight speakers and MP3 compatibility, rain sensing wipers, front and rear parking sensors, dual-zone climate control and a leather-bound steering wheel.

In addition, the Mondeo is also fitted with keyless entry/start, Alcantara/leather-trimmed and heated front and rear seats, sunblinds, sunroof and voice control with Bluetooth.

The whole point of buying a wagon is to enjoy the benefits of the extra load carrying capacity. In the Mondeo, that's 535 litres with the seats raised or 1733 litres with the rear passenger row of seats folded flat.

"If approved for Australia, the Mondeo turbo-diesel wagon would be the perfect complement to the existing award-winning Mondeo line-up and would fill the sports-wagon niche between that sedan range and the Falcon wagon," said Ford Australia President Bill Osborne.

"Show attendee's reaction to the display model will be a large influencer on our decision to possibly introduce the Mondeo TDCi wagon as part of the permanent line-up."

As mentioned, Ford also had a selection of models from the new FG Falcon range for the car's first public unveiling.

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