A couple of years ago, Ford announced that they will ditch cars from their line-up to focus only on SUVs. They did keep their word. Well, mostly as they still sell sedans and hatchbacks in some markets and China is one of them. Now they have revealed the 2022 Ford Mondeo for that market, and it is a gorgeous piece of art.
Let us look back at the last month of 2016 to know what went wrong with the automobile industry in December. A few automobile manufacturers announced recalls on several models to rectify problems.
Ford’s Vignale sub-brand in Europe is a way to offer luxury features and trim on their mainstream models. At the 2016 Geneva Motor Show, Ford have added four new models to this line up. The Vignale version of the S-Max people mover, Mondeo 5-door hatchback, the Edge SUV and the concept model of the Escape Vignale were all unveiled.
To maintain exclusivity from your average Mondeo, Ford is resurrecting their long shelved brand ‘Vignale’ that they acquired in 1969 during their venture with DeTomaso Automobili. And apart from the name and a few tags, you’ll be getting a few goodies to go with it. The new Mondeo Vignale was revealed at the 2013 Frankfurt Motor Show a few weeks back.
The all-new 2013 Ford Fusion midsize sedan has debuted at the 2012 Detroit Auto Show, touting styling that seems to meld an Aston Martin front end with the rear of a Ford Mondeo. Interestingly, the same car will also be launched in Europe as the Ford Mondeo, so it remains to be seen what it will be called in GCC markets.
So after 8 months and over 20,000 km, the Mondeo has departed. In an unanticipated move, I spontaneously decided to sell the Mondeo as the idea of owning a four-wheel drive, which sprouted up from nowhere in a corner of my brain, and had incurably spread all over my mind like cancer in short notice.
So I racked up another 10,000 kms on my Mondeo, and it was time to visit the dealer again for a service -– a major one this time. The major-service interval for the Mondeo falls every 50,000 km; my car which has done a tad less than 40,000 km, has gone through the major service. For those who bothered to follow the previous long term reports of this car, the story behind doing a 50,000-km service despite car doing only 40,000 kms will be nothing new.
So its summer time again – a period of nature’s harshness which is inevitable. And hence it was time for me to test one aspect of my Mondeo, which is actually a factor majorly considered when it comes to purchasing cars anywhere in the Middle East – the air-conditioner.
So it’s been over two months and about 7500 km with the car. The experience has been a very good one indeed, so far. The car provides a smooth commute as always and has been functioning very well. There hasn’t been any niggles except for some slight squeaks from the gearbox area as mentioned in the previous updates, which has now been fixed.
So it’s been just over a month and over 3700 km with the Mondeo -– time flew by and so did the odo readings in the Mondeo, accounted for by just one long drive through Kalba, Khorfakkan, Dibba, Masafi and Dhaid last weekend, and a vast majority of the rest accounted for by my routine commute between my home in Sharjah and my office opposite Dubai Media City.