Ford has announced details and specifications for the oft-delayed 2015 Ford Mondeo and opened its order books in the UK, but Australia won’t see it until early 2015.
EXPECTED TO ARRIVE Down Under around now-ish, the new-generation, Ford Mondeo which will most likely carry Ford’s ‘big car’ hopes beyond 2016 when the Falcon bows out. You might have noticed the Ford has started spruiking its 2015 models via a Twitter guessing competition. You can check it out via Twitter #guesswho.
Europe will get a five-door and four-door (hybrid only) bodystyles, plus as an estate developed specifically for Europe. Ford Australia won’t announce the final line-up we’ll get until closer to the local release in early 2015.
The 2015 Mondeo, when it arrives in Australia will be the first model here to be built on Ford’s new global CD-platform and will debut Ford’s new integral link rear suspension configuration, which Ford says promises, ” improved refinement and more dynamic performance”.
“With a body structure that’s 10 per cent stiffer than the previous generation Mondeo and handling-enhancing technology that includes Torque Vectoring Control, this is the most responsive and versatile Mondeo yet,” said Ulrich Koesters, vehicle line director, Ford of Europe.
All-new Mondeo petrol engine options in Europe will include the 1.5-litre and 2.0-litre EcoBoost from launch, with Ford’s fuel-efficient and surprisingly powerful 1.0-litre EcoBoost petrol engine – that was named International Engine of the Year for an unprecedented third time in a row – joining the line-up in early 2015. There will be two diesel engines: a 1.6-litre and 2.0-litre diesel engines with anticipated CO2 emissions of 94g/km and 107g/km. All-wheel drive variants will join the line-up, in Europe at least, early 2015. The all-new 2015 Mondeo will also be available as a hybrid which sees a 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine paired with an electric motor and 1.4kWh lithium-ion battery to provide optimised fuel economy and low CO2 emissions.
In terms of safety, the all-new Ford Mondeo debuts Ford’s Pedestrian Detection which can reportedly identify people in the road ahead, or those who might cross the vehicle’s path, and automatically apply the brakes if the driver does not respond to warnings. The system processes information collected from a windshield-mounted camera, and radar located in the bumper, and checks it against a database of “pedestrian shapes” to distinguish people from typical roadside scenery and objects. The system is part of the Adaptive Cruise package that also introduces Active Braking, which can autonomously apply up to full braking force to help the driver mitigate or avoid many types of rear-end collision.
The all-new Mondeo will feature an advanced version of Active Park Assist featuring Perpendicular Parking, which enables drivers to detect suitably-sized parallel parking spaces and reverse hands-free into spaces parallel to the road and side-to-side with other cars. This advanced parking feature will be supported by both Park-Out Assist, which helps drivers to exit parallel parking spaces; and Side Parking Aid, which delivers an on-screen visual representation and audible warning of obstacles to the sides of the vehicles, as well as to the front and rear. It’s not yet known whether these features will be offered on Australian cars, but we’ll go out on a limb and suggest they probably will be. The 2015 Mondeo, in an industry first, will offer an inflatable rear seatbelt; in the event of an accident, the belt rapidly expands to disperse crash forces across a body area five times greater than that achieved by a conventional seatbelt, Ford says.
Ford’s SYNC2 connectivity system with voice control and an eight-inch colour touchscreen allows drivers to operate phone, entertainment, climate and navigation systems using conversational language. For example, drivers can bring up a list of local restaurants by using the command: “I’m hungry”. We’ve already seen this technology included in the 2014 Falcon and Territory range.
According to Ford, the new Mondeo features a sports coupe profile. “The lean side-profile is sculpted to convey “visual lightness,” while the sophisticated and technical front end design features Ford’s more prominent trapezoidal grille, a power-dome bonnet and adaptive, slim-line, laser-cut headlamp design,” a statement reads.
