Nestled within a statement from Ford on its continued commitment to electrification as well as its passenger vehicle range updates is an announcement that the manufacturer will be discontinuing production of the Mondeo in early 2022, which it has attributed to a “growing change in customer preference,” which has already seen the brand stop selling sedans in North America in 2018.
The Mondeo was conceived as the Blue Oval’s first ‘world car’, the first to be destined for global markets as it was launched in 1993. The D-segment model range comprised of sedan and station wagon bodystyles, and has spanned five generations and around five million units sold to date, according to Ford. In 2020, 39% of all Ford models sold in Europe were SUVs and crossovers; an 8% year-on-year increase, Autocar reported.
Though the Mondeo nameplate was previously rumoured to reappear on a crossover, the news that the Mondeo will not be replaced for the European market suggests that the future crossover will not be sold in the region, said Autocar.
Models in the non-SUV line-up for Ford in Europe include the Focus, which was updated last year to receive a mild-hybrid powertrain and a revised kit list, as well as the Fiesta. The automaker has previously announced that its passenger vehicle line-up in Europe will become fully electric by 2030.
This leaves a question mark for the future of the Focus and Fiesta duo when their respective life cycles end in 2023 or 2024, suggested the magazine, and Ford aims to have its entire product range be at least partly electrified by mid-2026. This could see the Focus and Fiesta line-ups refreshed with plug-in hybrid powertrains before the brand goes fully electric by 2030, it added.
Ford is also working towards a similar goal for its commercial vehicle division to have all-electric or plug-in hybrid models form its line-up by 2024. The automaker announced that its facility in Valencia, Spain that currently produces the Mondeo will be tasked from 2022 to build the 2.5 litre Atkinson-cycle Duratec hybrid petrol that serves in the Kuga, Galaxy and S-Max. This engine is currently made in Chihuahua, Mexico.
The automaker also confirmed additional investment of 5.2 million euros (RM25.3 million) towards increasing the capacity of its battery pack assembly plant in Valencia, which follows an initial investment of 24 million euros (RM116.9 million) announced in January last year, prior to the facility’s start of operations in September 2020.
An earlier announcement stated that Ford will be almost doubling its initial investment into electrification to at last US$22 billion (RM91.3 billion) globally, and US$1 billion (RM4.15 billion) will go towards creating the Ford Cologne Electrification Center in Germany for the manufacture of EVs, where the first European-built series production passenger EV will be built in 2023.
The post Ford Mondeo discontinued in Europe after 29 years appeared first on Paul Tan's Automotive News.
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