30 Years of the Ford Mondeo

There are several aspects of the 1990s that many hope will never return – The Word on Channel Four comes to mind – but others are fondly missed. I mention this as a significant Ford has recently celebrated its 30^th anniversary but the Mondeo Mk. I is now a fast-vanishing sight.

It is often a surprise that Ford began work on Project CDW27 as early as 1985, just three years after the Sierra’s debut. It would also succeed the Tempo/Topaz range in the USA, and four years later, the company announced its impending launch. The fact it was FWD caused many XR4i drivers to almost faint in shock. On 9^th October 1992, The Daily Telegraph reported a sneak preview of the Mondeo. “The name was chosen because it is similar to the word for ‘world’ in so many languages”.

Production commenced at the Genk plant in Belgium on 23^rd November 1992. The Guardian of 30^th January 1993 described the Mondeo as “unequivocally, the most ambitious and expensive programme ever undertaken any manufacturer had undertaken for a single car”. They also pointed out, “To recover costs and make a profit, class leadership must be immediate”. At the same time, “Ford clearly wanted as little as possible repetition of the original jellymould shell of its ten-year-old predecessor”.

Sales officially started on 22^nd March 1993, and the range encompassed four-door saloons, five-door hatchbacks and estates. Trim levels varied from LX and GLX to Ghia and Si while power was from 1.6-litre, 1.8-litre and 2.0-litre Zetec engines. Your Ford dealer would doubtlessly inform you that the Mondeo was the first car in the UK with a driver’s airbag as standard on all models.

With a lack of modesty, the sales copy claimed that the Mondeo embodied “‘Beauty with inner strength”, but the styling was rather conservative. This was a conscious decision by Ford, as the Sierra’s looks took some time to become accepted by corporate and private buyers. The former was crucial to the Mondeo’s success - in 1993, the business market represented up to 60% of new car sales in the UK. On 20^th April, The Guardian noted, “Criticism by fleet and lease executives played a significant part in the slashing by Ford of Mondeo prices”.

However, by the end of 1993, some 260,000 Mondeos had found homes across Europe, and it defeated the Citroën Xantia and the Mercedes-Benz C-Class to become COTY 1994. What Car thought it “a far more tempting proposition than the Sierra has been for years”. In addition, praise along the lines that Ford had produced “a car with quality to match a Nissan Primera, handling and ride to match a Peugeot 405, an interior design to beat a Cavalier and refinement to top the lot” must have been well received in Dagenham.

The Mk. II succeeded the Mk. I in October 1996. In 2022 the first-generation Mondeo is becoming so rarely sighted that a 1994 example caused a minor sensation at this year’s Silverstone Classic. And this launch advertisement is a reminder of why the Ford Mondeo is far more fondly remembered than The Word -