On March 18, Changan Ford's new generation of Mondeo opened pre-sale, and a total of four models were launched, with a pre-price range of 159,800-21.98 million yuan. It is understood that the new car will be officially launched at the Beijing Auto Show held on April 21.
For reference, the 2020 Mondeo currently on sale is priced at 192,800-226,800 yuan, which is 30,000 yuan lower.
In terms of appearance, the new generation of Ford Mondeo no longer uses the "Martin face" decorated with horizontal chrome strips, but instead has a front face style similar to ford EVOS, the front face adopts a large polygonal grille, and the interior is embellished with glossy black decorative elements similar to scales, and the biggest highlight is the function of active closing.
Split LED headlight sets are reflected in many Ford models, and the new Mondeo is no exception. In addition, the front enclosing area is designed in a through-line design, and the interior is wrapped in black decorative strips.
The STLine model is mainly distinguished from the regular model in the front enclosing area, which uses a black decorative strip with a personalized shape through the lower air intake and extends upwards to the far and near light area on the outside.
Mondeo 2022 EcoBoost 245 ST-Line
On the side of the body, the new car adopts the popular slipback roof design, with a dual color paint, which further enhances the fashion sense of the whole car. It is worth noting that the new generation of Mondeo's exterior mirrors use a splicing-like design, and the shape is very novel.
In other respects, the new car is equipped with hidden door handles, 19-inch sporty aluminum alloy wheels, and so on. At the rear, the new generation of Mondeo is equipped with blackened through-type taillights, and three vertical light sources are integrated into the left and right side light chambers, which is expected to have good recognition after lighting.
In the rear enveloping area, the two styles of models are wrapped in different kits, with the ST Line model using black trim strips and diffuser trims, paired with a black rear spoiler, to create a more sporty effect.
In terms of size, the new generation of Mondeo is 4935/1875/1500mm in length, width and height, and wheelbase is 2945mm. For reference, the Mondeo for sale is 4873/1852/1470mm in length, width and height, and the wheelbase is 2850mm. Judging from the data, the new generation of Mondeo has significantly increased in wheelbase and length, and it is expected to have a better experience in space.
In terms of interior, the interior design of the new Mondeo is highly similar to that of the Light Chaser, and the horizontal LCD screen with a length of more than 1.1 meters consists of a 12.3-inch LCD instrument panel and a 27-inch central control large screen (ecoBoost 245 ST-Line/ EcoBoost 245 Extreme model only available).
Because many functions can basically be operated on the large screen, it also determines the simplicity of the design in the car, the lower part of the screen is only the air conditioner outlet, and there are almost no various knobs and buttons in the car.
Mondeo 2022 EcoBoost 245 stylish
In terms of power, the new generation of Mondeo is equipped with a 2.0T turbocharged engine model CAF488WQC, with a maximum power of 175 kW and a peak torque of 376 N·m.
In terms of transmission system, except for the top ST-Line model with an 8-speed manual transmission (with steering wheel shift paddles), the other three models are equipped with an 8-speed automatic transmission.
For reference, the 2020 Mondeo on sale is paired with 1.5T and 2.0T engines, with a maximum power of 134 kW and 152 kW, peak torques of 243 N·m and 354 N·m, matched with a 6-speed automatic transmission.
According to the data, Mondeo is Ford Motor's first global model, spent 6 billion US dollars in 1986 to develop, can be said to be one of the most expensive models in the history of the car, the first generation of models listed in 1993, until now has undergone four generations, has gone through nearly 30 years of history.
Since 2004, Mondeo has entered the domestic market, when the introduction of the official second generation of models, currently on the market for sale for the fourth generation of products, officially listed in August 2013, due to its face collision "Martin face" has become one of the most successful American sports mid-level cars in the market, but due to years of non-replacement, its product strength and design aesthetics have not kept up with the development of the times, sales have fallen to the bottom.
According to the data, Changan Ford Mondeo sold 101035 vehicles in 2016 and 112158 in 2017, which can be said to have reached its peak. However, since the beginning of 2018, its sales have suddenly plummeted to 45,405 units, with only 17,642 units sold in 2019 and 25,027 units and 34,345 units in 2020-2021, respectively.
However, as competitors of the same class, the Honda Accord, Toyota Camry, Volkswagen Magotan, Nissan Tianlai and other models sell more than 100,000 units a year, while Mondeo is not a fraction of the above models.
According to the data disclosed by Changan Automobile, Changan Ford's sales in 2021 were 304,600 vehicles, an increase of 20.29% year-on-year, which is a rare thing for Changan Ford, after all, this is the first year-on-year increase in Changan Ford since the collapse of nearly one million sales in 2016.
However, Changan Ford was able to achieve growth in large part because of the growth of Changan Lincoln. According to the number of insurances, the cumulative sales of Changan Ford in 2021 were 204084 vehicles, an increase of 1.14% year-on-year, and Changan Lincoln was 82531 vehicles, an increase of 110.76% year-on-year.
That is to say, if you rely solely on the Ford brand, Changan Ford's performance in 2021 is not eye-catching.
So can Mondeo save Changan Ford? From the perspective of the design of the car's exterior and interior level, whether it is Geely, Changan or BYD has long been behind the joint venture car companies, or even more so, the newly designed Mondeo is more like a forced product.
I have to admit that Mondeo is already a model in China, and it is urgent to reverse the current disadvantages through replacement, and the biggest change in the new Mondeo is the appearance and interior, using a design style similar to the Ford Light Chaser, but moving the design of the SUV to the car, such a change can really be accepted by consumers?
Of course, the appearance and interior is secondary, consumers most value is product competitiveness, the new Mondeo system standard 2.0T + 8AT, some netizens bluntly said: independent brand up, joint venture brand down, joint venture car sold the price of independent car, Mondeo product competitiveness is indeed OK, but the brand is not very good.
In addition, in the future, Mondeo may become a special model, because it has been discontinued in many markets around the world. In March 2021, Ford motor said its plant in Valencia, Spain, would end production of the Mondeo model in March 2022.
A Ford spokesperson said consumers' car buying preferences have changed and Ford is gradually improving its passenger car product lineup in Europe to meet the brand's transition to all-electric vehicles and respond to changing customer needs.
Back in July 2020, ford fusion (domestically for Ford Mondeo) retail plans ended due to sluggish sales in the North American market.
Of course, in recent years, the domestic B-class car market has completed a round of product iteration, the tenth generation of Honda Accord mid-term redesign, the ninth generation of Toyota Camry, the seventh generation of Nissan Tianlai, etc. have all been listed, the Ford Mondeo replacement, is expected to get more market initiative, will also inject new vitality into the calm B-class car market, as to be able to stir the market, is also full of expectations.
It is understood that in addition to the new Mondeo, Fox with a four-cylinder engine and a new generation of explorers will be listed in the second quarter of 2022, and the new generation of Ruijie will be listed in the fourth quarter of 2022, which are the blockbuster products of Changan Ford.
Taking The Focus as an example, Changan Ford introduced the European version of the Fox into the domestic market in 2005, launching a sedan version and a hatchback version, with 1.8L and 2.0L engines in terms of power.
In March 2012, the third generation of Changan Ford Focus was officially launched, this generation of models cast the peak moment of Fox, which won the annual car sales championship in 2012-2014 consecutively, and overpowered popular cars such as Xuanyi, Langyi and Corolla.
On November 8, 2018, the new generation of Changan Ford Focus was officially launched, and the new car launched three power versions of 1.5L, 1.0T and 1.5T, all in the form of three cylinders.
The maximum power is 122 hp, 127 hp and 184 hp, and the maximum torques are 153 N·m, 173 N·m and 243 N·m, respectively. Since then, Fox has fallen out of the top of the sales list and has been in a slump ever since.
According to the retail data of the Association of Automobile Associations, the cumulative sales of Fox in 2021 are only 22,500 vehicles, of which December sales were 1749 vehicles, and the monthly sales volume was basically maintained at the level of 2000 vehicles.
In the past two years, Ford has launched a new sharp edge, EVOS, domestic explorers, etc. in China, and sales are gradually picking up, whether it is a replacement of Mondeo or a four-cylinder Focus, we can see Ford's many efforts to the Chinese market, which may be helpless and worth affirming.