Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General General AutoWEEK mag: Mercury Div. to get 2005 Mondeo

Yeah yeah yeah, we all heard all SORTS of rumours. Well, here is one more! 2005 sounds just about right to trade in my SVT... We'll see if they really Do it... and then of course, Mercury is supposed to die a lingering death??? is this a ploy to get our hopes up? Only to CRUSH them later??? :rolleyes:

I can't wait that long. Would buy a 2005 Mustang GT long before a Mondeo. Wish I could afford an Infiniti Q35. Rear drive, 260 ponies...but or butt ugly. $34K Too heavy at 3400 lbs. Nobody makes light cars anymore but Toyota! Celica/MR2.

2005 might be too late for me. I'm planning a trip to Europe in the spring of 2004. Probably to the Munich area.

Gotta use my Frequent Flyer miles somehow. Can't think of a better way than flying to Germany 1st Class to pick up a new BMW 3er.

No depending on the market, will it be a 325, 330 or M3.

Come on NASDAQ !!!

TB

Tony, I still have not heard from Matt, yet. I'm AWOL from other job but leaving now. Got to get quarterly sales/rental taxes paperwork and mail a check. Hope your recent work has been less stressful than you described. Adios.

By 2005 Ford will have lost more market share in this area and then the market will have shifted, and then the Mondeo would be an example of a great product that was 5 years too late!

If Ford considers selling the new Mondeo ST220 (the equivalent of our CSVTs)in North America with the same features and options as in Europe, the price would be just (but not by much)under that of the Jag X-type.

At this price, would you still buy the Mondeo or have a look at a BMW 3 series ?

Probably, that's what is making Ford hesitate so much.

Another option for Ford would be to build another cheap version of the Mondeo for North America as was the Contour. We are still comparing the dashbords of both cars, among much other things, and complaining about the decontents ... and Ford's minimalistic approach in the case of the american market.

Ford set up the SVT right in America, by taking away the overequipment that is in the European market model had. The Contour is an ENTRY-midsize car by size, and needs to be equipped accordingly.

That said, for the Mondeo to be a 2005 model, give me one good reason not to buy a Mazda 6 two years earlier? (Excluding that you may not want to buy a car until 2005.)

Look at the price for a ST220 in Euros not Pounds all youll get a better idea of where it would come in. far less then a Jaguar far less!

Problem with a 2005 Mondeo is this, lets look at what we like on this board. a SVT Contour ! lets compare that to the same Mercury Mystique....get the idea. I would bet if the Mondeo does come as a Mercury we will get a chrome grill, chrome badges, chrome window trim (I hate chrome)a single exhaust, a cushy suspension, but thats ok because a sports suspension would overwhelm the 15" steele wheels and cause a wheel cover to pop off! A slow shifting auto trans, but dont worrie manuals will be available with the zetec and iits 130 ft/lbs trq, forget the recaros and welcome the Tarus seats!

Would I want a Mercury Mondeo? no thanks! anything less then the full ST220 pkg s out IMHO! I want the 18" wheels the looks the 220 hp the full kit, including Recaros! I want SVT to make another 20 horse out of the motor as well.

Otherwise no thanks too many good cars a coming to mess with anything less. EVO VIII, Mazdas AWD 6 with 280 HP! New Mustangs ! Holdens under GM badges, and plenty more. If Ford wants in they need to do it now and do it for real. If I stayed with Ford they may also have a 280hp AWD Focus Cossie by then, we will see!

I agree. While everyone here repspects the Mercury folks around here, I think its safe to say that most people would opt for an SVT because of its power and styling. I wouldn't expect the SVT badge to be put on a Mercury either, SVT is supposed to be Ford. So lets say they DO bring the ST220 over (which is certainly nice), it'll be 3 years too late. Although, one would think there might be some significant changes in 3 years to that model. I would go with a Mazda 6 before before the Merc anyway. I've always seen Merc to be more luxury than Ford and less than Lincoln. Sport before Luxury, I always say. Does the 6 have 220HP? 3.0 Duratec right? I don't know. Anyway, good luck to Ford and Mercury if they are able to pull it off at a resonable price.

The Mazda 6 is slated to have the 3.0 Duratec at 219 hp, 212 tq.