Ford Mondeo
The Ford Mondeo is a large family car manufactured by Ford since 1993. The first Ford declared a "world car", the Mondeo was intended to consolidate several Ford model lines worldwide. The Mondeo nameplate is derived from Latin mundus, meaning "world".
For its first two generations, the Ford Mondeo was produced using the Ford CDW27 platform, with the third generation shifting to the EUCD platform. The fourth generation uses the Ford CD4 platform.
Versions
As of 2018, Ford has produced five versions of the Ford Mondeo across four generations. In 1996, the first-generation Mondeo underwent an extensive redesign, becoming the Mk II.In North America, the Mk I and Mk II Mondeo were produced and marketed as the Ford Contour and Mercury Mystique from 1995 to 2000. The 1999-2002 Mercury Cougar is a rebodied three-door hatchback variant of the Mk II, sold as the Ford Cougar in export markets.
The Mk V Ford Mondeo is the second Mondeo designed as a "world car", as it adopts the Ford Fusion nameplate in the Americas, Middle East, and South Korea. In January 2016, Ford showcased a facelift in USA for model year 2017. As of June 2018, it was unknown whether this facelift would be brought to Europe and the Mondeo branded version. The current Mondeo is still the pre-facelift of the Ford Fusion. Ford Fusions have a conventional trunk lid, distinguished from the world market Mondeo which has a large hatchback, including the "trunk lid" and rear glass; the cars are virtually identical in side view.
| Generation | Ford platform | Introduction | Model years |
| First generation | Ford CDW27
| 1992 | 1993-1996 |
| First generation facelift | Ford CDW27
| 1996 | 1997-2000 |
| Second generation | Ford CDW27
| 2000 | 2001-2007 |
| Third generation | Ford EUCD | 2006 | 2007-2010 |
| Third generation facelift | Ford EUCD | 2010 | 2010-2014 |
| Fourth generation | Ford CD4 | 2012 | 2014-present |
Motorsport
The Mondeo competed in the British Touring Car Championship between 1993 and 2000. The cars, prepared by former series champion Andy Rouse, did not enter the 1993 season until the eighth round, at Pembrey, in Wales. Rouse and Paul Radisich were the drivers in the Mondeo's first season. Radisich went on to win the FIA World Touring Car Cup in both 1993 and 1994 driving a Mondeo.Ford ran a factory-sponsored team, called Ford Team Mondeo, for eight seasons. Andy Rouse Engineering ran the cars from 1993 to 1995, when West Surrey Racing ran the works team from 1996 to 1998, with Prodrive taking over beginning 1999.
In 2000, the team expanded from two cars to three when drivers Alain Menu and Anthony Reid were joined by 1998 series champion Rickard Rydell, recruited from the disbanded Volvo team. The team dominated the season of 2000, finishing 1–2–3 in the drivers' standings and winning the manufacturers' championship by 104 points.
A complete overhaul of the BTCC following the season of 2000 had the supertouring regulations scrapped as the series moved towards less expensive, but slower race cars. Ford withdrew from BTCC competition prior to 2001.
The touring cars, after their withdrawal, went on sale to the public and are now in the hands of other drivers. Two of the 2000 series Mondeos have been spotted in the BRSCC series of LMA Euro saloons; drivers known to own them at present are Bernard Hogarth and Alvin Powell.
The Mk I and Mk II Mondeo have followed many other previous Ford models into the world of banger racing in the United Kingdom, and with plenty of older cars being available for very little money, the Mondeo is now a popular and relatively easy car to race. The Zetec engines are converted to run off a carb set up and the Mondeo bodyshell is fairly tough, but they are proving rather rigid, with many drivers getting injured in high-speed impacts. Mondeos are proving more popular than the Sierra and Mk III Granada.
In Argentina, the Mondeo is one of several cars to compete in the local Top Race racing category; its body is handcrafted in reinforced fiberglass. The Mondeo is so far the most successful car in the category, with three championship titles in the TRV6 class and two championship titles in the Top Race series.
The winning drivers in the TRV6 class were Omar Martínez, José María López, and Guido Falaschi with the Mondeo II, and in the TR Junior category, the championship was won by Gonzalo Perlo in 2008 and Humberto Krujoski in 2010. In 2009, the Mondeo III bodystyle was approved and presented as an option within the category; however, the Mondeo II bodywork is still being used.
Similarly, in the United States, the Fusion/Mondeo Mk 5 bodywork began use for the sixth-generation body in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starting in 2013, replacing the current Mazda6-based Fusion.