Note: this is sort of a “remix” of the previous post on the Ford Mondeo only with a focus on how to tell when Ford finally “gets it”, and stars to display signals that it is beginning to understand how to better compete in its home market One thing I really like about traveling to Europe is looking at the subtle differences between cars that sold in Europe and in the U.S., in addition to checking out the cars that are only sold in Europe. Last time I was there I saw a fairly sporty looking car that I assumed was either a VW or a European brand that isn’t sold here; in the end the make didn’t matter because it was something that I definitely wanted to test drive. As it turns out the car is produced by a company whose products this happy Audi and BMW driver would never consider: Ford.

The car is the new Ford Mondeo a car designed by Ford Europe and based on a platform designed by Volvo, a platform it doesn’t share with Ford’s Fusion and other mid-sized vehicles for the American market. In fact both cars were more or less developed independently with the Mondeo never being designed with the U.S. market in mind. While it would undoubtedly be expensive to modify the car for the U.S. market, those costs are undoubtedly lower than that of separately developing the Fusion on a different platform.

The car has been a top seller in Britain and Germany, and recently won family car of the year from the British TV show “Top Gear”. In fact the car easily competes with cars like the VW Passat and Honda Accord, and is considered a benchmark in its class, something that Ford Midsized cars in America can only dream of. Simply put: Ford of Europe designs Ford’s best car and yet the company made no plans to sell this car in its most important market, during a time when SUV sales were fading the car desperately needs something to compete with the likes of Honda, Nissan and Toyota.

After all when Car and Driver claims: “the '08 Mondeo drives better than its forebears and we would judge it to be superior to any other front-wheel-drive sedan from a mainstream manufacturer. This is not to say it is a dynamic peer of the heralded BMW 3-series, but the Mondeo largely succeeds at capturing the feel, solidity, and refinement of more expensive luxury sedans”. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that Ford of America should scrap its mid-sized car designs and let Ford of Europe do the heavy lifting, whilst the Americans focus on making sure the car meets American specifications with regards to safety, emissions, etc.