2013 Ford Mondeo Revealed - Ford'S Aston-Esque Camry Challenger

[MoonRiverOasis]

The 2013 Ford Mondeo has been officially unveiled at the Detroit Motor Show:

Engine choices will include 1.6 and 2.0L Ecoboost gasoline turbos, an unspecified TDCi and a couple of Hybrid variants.

Personally, I'm loving the Aston look

[kartman]

Very good looking but think grill could have been a tad smaller reminds me of a Grouper fish

[Presto]

So basically, they stuck a new grille on it, and for lack of inspiration copied the Aston one? I'd say Ford has to go looking for some new designers. Or did the Chief Exec himself choose this one?

Not that it looks all that bad. Just ... mmm.

Give me Italian design every time please.

Edited January 9, 2012 by Presto

[MoonRiverOasis]

So basically, they stuck a new grille on it, and for lack of inspiration copied the Aston one? I'd say Ford has to go looking for some new designers. Or did the Chief Exec himself choose this one?

Not that it looks all that bad. Just ... mmm.

Give me Italian design every time please.

Well, we're looking at a 1.2-1.7M Baht mainstream C/D segment car, not a 15M+ exotic - and compared to it's direct rivals (Camry, Accord, Teana and Sonata), it's definitely a sharp looker.

Styling of the new model is more evolutionary than revolutionary though (I can't say I was ever a fan of the current-gen), but there's no mistaking that with the "Kinetic Styling V2" changes, it's looking much more like an Aston Martin now.. However, Stefan Lamm who heads up Ford Design tends to be a little defensive when the Aston styling cues are mentioned - according to him the trapezoidal grille has long been a part of Ford's DNA..

Seeing as the Mondeo has never been sold in TH before, here's some pics of the current-gen for reference:

And the Ford Evos concept car which first revealed "Kinetic Design V2":

[Presto]

So basically, they stuck a new grille on it, and for lack of inspiration copied the Aston one? I'd say Ford has to go looking for some new designers. Or did the Chief Exec himself choose this one?

Not that it looks all that bad. Just ... mmm.

Give me Italian design every time please.

Well, we're looking at a 1.2-1.7M Baht mainstream C/D segment car, not a 15M+ exotic - and compared to it's direct rivals (Camry, Accord, Teana and Sonata), it's definitely a sharp looker.

With Italian design I mean top achievements like the new Fiat 500, the Fiat Multipla, the Alfa Mito, the new Guilietta, etc, etc. I had a Alfa 145 Q for some years, and really loved every small detail about it. Not a line out of place. Thats what I mean.

[sezze]

So basically, they stuck a new grille on it, and for lack of inspiration copied the Aston one? I'd say Ford has to go looking for some new designers. Or did the Chief Exec himself choose this one?

Not that it looks all that bad. Just ... mmm.

Give me Italian design every time please.

I do like Italian design cars ( hey i drive a Alfa 147 ) , but this design is very very nice . Yes , it does look like Aston Martin , but isn't that a nice looking car also .

[Presto]

For the fog lights a much more elegant solution (but basically the same) as the Corolla Altis:

[katabeachbum]

looks stunning for an inexpensive mainstream, hope it makes it here

and I agree with Fords designers, its not Aston, its Ford with Aston chrome added

[dezy1801]

Looks great even if it does look a little like an Aston Martin would be nice to get some more options in the Thai market and I would be interested in this if it is available in thailand.

[MoonRiverOasis]

Launch video:

[Presto]

I wonder if the Focus and Fiesta will get the same 'Aston' frontal treatment.

[MoonRiverOasis]

I wonder if the Focus and Fiesta will get the same 'Aston' frontal treatment.

Unlikely IMHO - even in the next model changes (which are still a few years away) - the whole point of the prominent nose is to further differentiate it from lower models...

The problem when you have such strong and focussed design language is always creating a unique style for each model - lest fall into the BMW trap of it just looking like the cars grew a little bit in size as you move up the range

[Presto]

My thoughts exactly. It'll be interesting to see if the Fusion/Mondeo attack on the Camry/Accord will be succesful. In Europe, no problem I guess, but over here? In the US? Perceptions in different markets differ ...

But I admire the Ford approach to have a 'world car'.