Fourteen years ago, the Mondeo was the saviour of a struggling Ford Europe. Today the striking-looking, third-generation Mondeo is launched against a backdrop of a much-stronger Ford operation in Europe, but also much intensified competition.
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That competition, from compact executive models like the BMW 3-Series and compact minivans like the Renault Scenic, has squeezed Mondeo sales down from a high in 1995 of 353,911 to just 130,659 last year, a loss suffered by several other medium segment saloons and hatchbacks.
Even more striking is the rise in popularity of the BMW 3-series. In 1995, the Mondeo outsold the 3-series one-and-a-half times, but just four years later, the tables had turned and by the end of 1999, the 3-series nudged ahead of the Mondeo.
In its run-out last year, the Mondeo lagged the 3-series by over a half, the German model taking 287,704 sales.
Ford, of course, recognises this situation and has adjusted Mondeo capacity at Genk, Belgium, downwards for the second time.
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By GlobalDataThe original CDW27 Mondeo (which was also built and sold in the US for a short time), was installed at 350,000 units in Genk. The second-generation car was reduced to 250,000 and the new car is below that again.
Ford is coy about revealing exact figures. Genk has been reconfigured to build the Galaxy minivan, its sporty S-Max derivative and the Mondeo, and has total capacity of 240,000 units for those three models with a flexible split between each.
Although the Galaxy and S-Max last year accounted for 84,900 units (25,400 Galaxy and 59,500 S-Max), the launch year for both, historically, Galaxy sales have been around 50,000. That suggests a similar figure for the S-Max, leaving the Mondeo with around 140,000 units — the same as production of the current car.
Although Ford sources won’t publicly paint a more optimistic picture for Mondeo sales — not surprising when the previous two generations have fallen short of forecasts — privately there is a hope that the new model will increase sales.
And there is a route to deliver extra capacity if needed — Genk is Ford’s only plant in Europe operating on two shifts.
“We’re not committing to anything, but if sales really go well, the option is there to add a further shift,” said a Ford spokesman.
Ford details redesigned Mondeo
Ford Mondeo registrations in Europe*
1995 353,911
1996 323,691
1997 331,399
1998 317,959
1999 231,826
2000 181,213
2001 290,636
2002 257,543
2003 208,369
2004 180,282
2005 162,357
2006 130,659
*includes Czech Rep; Poland and Hungary
