Error parsing XSLT file: \xslt\FacebookOpenGraph.xslt Our Fleet Test Drive: Ford Mondeo - First report
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Our Fleet Test Drive: Ford Mondeo - First report

Date: 24 March 2015   |   Author:

Equipment: 16in alloys, DAB radio, power-fold mirrors, Sync voice activation, 8in touch screen, dual-zone climate control, cruise control
Options fitted to our car: Lunar Sky metallic paint (£545), active park assist (£450), navigation (£300), inflatable rear seatbelts (£175)

The gestation period for Ford's new Mondeo has been lengthy - it was heavily delayed by the switch of production from Belgium to Spain - but the car's finally out, and we're interested to see where it fits into the modern company car landscape.

Like never before, the Mondeo is facing challenges from premium brands, budget brands and increasingly less niche sectors such as crossovers and off-road vehicles, all eating into the traditional upper medium market in which it used to have comparatively free reign.

BusinessCar will be running the volume heart of the line-up for the next six months, in the form of the 150hp 2.0 TDCi, but while that car is being readied, we're sampling the low-emission king of the range in the form of the white car pictured above - the 115hp 1.6-litre diesel emitting just 94g/km.

Both cars are the Zetec trim and fitted with the same four options of paint, satnav, park assist - which adds front and rear parking sensors plus the parallel and perpendicular parking system, although I'm unlikely to use the last of those - and inflatable rear seatbelts.

They are an interesting safety addition, designed to disperse the load on the body by a factor of five in the event of an accident, reducing bone fractures and internal injuries. It's a clever system, although my Mondeo will spend the majority of its time with two car seats in the rear, so Isofix access that's among the easiest I've ever seen, complete with soft plastic grooves to slide the seat's teeth down, was a very welcome sight.

All the infotainment is accessed via a brightly coloured eight-inch touchscreen that so far seems to vary in usability. My wife has already cursed the admittedly very cost-effective £300 optional satnav system for not being simple enough to operate, and searching for digital radio stations is comparatively clunky against more functional systems. But once my regular picks are saved, it's fine.

I'm not blown away by the 43.7mpg we achieved with the first tank in the 1.6 diesel, given the 78.5mpg combined figure, and I'd hope that the 2.0-litre will be beating that as an average. The 1.6 also needs a bit of work to accelerate at higher speeds, and I'm hoping the extra 35hp will make a difference when we switch cars later this month.

But the Mondeo's already proving to be a great family car in terms of comfort, rear space and the 541-litre boot that comfortably swallows much of what two small children seem to amass for an overnight trip. That will be tested further with a bank holiday visit to the Isle of Wight as well as a weekend in Rotterdam in the coming months.

Ford Mondeo 2.0 TDCi 150 Zetec 5dr

Official consumption 64.2mpg
Forecast CPM 50.8p
P11D Price £23,440
Model price range £20,860-£28,810
Residual value 36.1%
Depreciation cost £14,990
Fuel cost £4952
SMR cost £2342
VED £60
National insurance £1941
CO2 (tax) 115g/km (19%)
BIK 20%/40% per month £74/£148
Why we're running it: To see how the long-awaited new Mondeo fits in to the modern company car world
 

Verdict


  • Comfortable and practica
  • Tricky infotainment system

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