Speaking of Ford [[f]] something they should consider doing is bringing the new Ford Mondeo Sedan over to America ASAP, as it would probably be a much stronger competitor to the Japanese mid-sized sedans than their current state-side offerings. While the previous generation (the abysmal Ford Contour) didn’t do so well stateside and there is likely to be some resistance to a car designed by Ford Europe, it’s quite possible that the rather “German Flavored” new model might sell better than their Detroit based offerings.

For instance I’ve never particularly cared for American cars outside of GM’s Pony cars, GMC SUVs and the Corvette and have always purchased German ones, but upon seeing the Ford Mondeo in Europe my first reaction was: “Nice, what kind of car is that, woah, wait, that’s a Ford?!” I’m sure I’m not the only person who would react in that manner to seeing the new Ford Mondeo, especially with its German themed interior.

I.e. if the consumer prefers foreign cars than why not sell the foreign designed cars in your own product portfolio?

What is more likely to resonate with American consumers the 2007 Mondeo?

Image courtesy of Business Week

Or the 2007 Fusion?

Image Courtesy of Ford

I wouldn’t give-up my BMW for either car, but I would at least like to DRIVE the Mondeo, and the only way I’ll drive a Fusion is if that’s the only rental car available. In the mid-sized sedan segment probably the smartest thing for Ford to do is to scrap the Fusion and just sell the Mondeo, the Fusion is basically a ruination of a perfectly good car that would sell well and win buyers from the Camry, Accord and Passat.

Now I’m aware of Ford’s future plans to make a single model to sell as the Fusion in the U.S. and the Mondeo in Europe, the idea is to have the design teams collaborate with both groups implementing tweaks for their respective markets. While this sounds good on paper my fear is that the U.S. market won’t get a true Mondeo, and will instead receive a bastardized Mondeo/Fusion hybrid.

Personally I think Ford is missing the mark with this approach because Ford Europe has already designed a great car that doesn’t need to be modified at all, just sell the Mondeo in the U.S. as is. The so called “design cues” preferred by the American consumer as the very things that are driving the American consumer to the competition, there is no reason to implement them on a perfectly good car.

After all, BMW, Audi, Volkswagen, Porsche, Lexus, Toyota, etc, etc, are all having no problems selling a car in America that is exactly the same as its European counterpart, I’m sure there is a lesson in there somewhere. Especially since the ’07 Mondeo has some obvious design cues “borrowed” from Lexus and Acura.

Disclosure: at the time of publishing the author didn’t own a position in any of the car companies mentioned in this article, unless you count his undying loyalty to Bayerische Auto.

Posted in Categories: Contributor, External Research, Releases, Stocks.

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