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Mondeo seats
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This is the first fleet report on this year's most crucial business car, which goes on sale in June.
It's finally here. James Bond will soon be in good company as business car drivers get their hands on the keys to a new Ford Mondeo, 007's fleet motor from the movie Casino Royale.
The first thing that's obvious is the increase in size: it's nearly 50mm longer, 71mm taller and an amazing 120mm higher than its predecessor. That equates to plenty of room in the front, an impressive amount of head and legroom for rear-seat passengers, and a boot small children could get lost in. Four adults plus a week's worth of luggage will be no problem for the new Mondeo, while the occasional mammoth load will also be swallowed thanks to the easy drop-down rear seats (although they do leave a bit of a lip where they fold).
There are some neat titanium flourishes around the cabin, and the all-round fit and finish are potentially the best ever seen in a Ford. The driver's seating position is good and the seats are comfy, although the large central vent mounted at the base of the windscreen leaves a large, irritating reflection on the windscreen that's right in the driver's eyeline when cornering. It seems a surprisingly obvious error.
The top-spec model gets Ford's new Human-Machine Interface, effectively its version of BMW's iDrive or Audi's MMI, which controls functions such as the audio system, trip computer or optional satnav. It works logically in the same way as a mobile phone keypad, with four direction cursors and a central button, all mounted on the steering wheel instead of in the centre console as is the case with Ford's premium rivals.
Renowned for building cars drivers find pleasing, Ford has developed a new upper medium challenger that comes close to topping the class for ride comfort, although we'll have to wait until we spend a bit of time with it in the UK before we can confirm our first impressions gained at the launch event in Sardinia.
That ride comfort will be good news for anyone expecting to spend much time ticking off large numbers of motorway miles, and below outside-lane speeds it's impressively quiet, with little aural intrusion from either passing air or asphalt. However, travel faster and there is a notable increase in wind noise.
We drove the 140PS 2.0-litre TDCi diesel, expected to be the most popular variant. As seen in other applications, the engine's powerful and generally refined, but suffers from the traditional increase in clattery volume afflicting all diesel engines towards the top of the rev range. CO2 and MPG figures will leave business drivers with little cause for complaint.
The car has ultra-light steering, and while that's handy when manoeuvring through urban traffic, it needs more weight at higher speeds to avoid the driver having to make little corrections through bends, which means the new Mondeo has lost a little something of its drivers' car reputation that the previous two generations have built. However, the body control and chassis are both up to Ford's usual standard.
Ford has worked hard to keep the costs down, most evidently with insurance groups thanks to the new car's repairability and safety systems, such as its seven airbags (including knee bag) and standard ESP, a first for the brand (it's only an option for the S-max). The work on keeping the costs down appears to be working for now, with the Titanium X model coming in at 35.6ppm, a shade below the Vauxhall's rival Vectra. Pricing is also impressive, compared with the outgoing model, especially considering the extra size and kit now on offer.
Ford is looking to mirror the success of the S-max people carrier, where around half of orders are for the top-spec Titanium trim, and company bosses say they'd be "very happy" with a repeat. The middling Zetec trim is still expected to be most popular however. The brand is also hoping to court a larger mix of user-choosers compared with the outgoing model, as part of an attempted shift slightly upmarket through increased style and specification, which would in turn boost RVs, although it's aware of the car's fleet heartland. The competitive pricing with a lower P11D and a claim that it's at the expense of bigger discounts also backs up this ambition. Meanwhile, the UK is vital to the Mondeo's success. The market here accounts for around a third of buyers, and 70% of those are to the corporate market, where the Ford still dominates its segment.
Apart from the complaint over the steering lightness, the new Mondeo is an improvement in pretty much every way, especially in terms of the impressive space, standard equipment and ride quality. Vauxhall's Vectra replacement comes next year, and it'll have its work cut out to top its archrival.
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