Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General General Pan-Anglo taste regarding the Mondeo/Contour

-Available in Europe with more engine choices IIRC, and the 4-banger perhaps the most popular in the land where Gas is priced about 3 times higher than here.

-No SUV fad to deal with over there, for the same reasons. Europeans just can't justify huge vehicles. One reason Ford stopped production in the US was to gain more production capacity for SUVs.

-Sedan sales in the US were in steep decline at the time. There may be a resurgence, now, but it's too late for the Contour.

-Other reasons already cited: Ford US has terrible marketing, which made the back seat issue come to the fore. The back seat in the 'Tour is bigger/better than BMWs of the same period, but nobody cares about the back seat in a BMW. They're in it for the a)prestige, or b)driving experience. Ford sold the car in NA as the mid-size family car in their lineup, competing against Honda, Toyota, and Chrysler (Cirrus/Stratus). The best "driving enthusiast" marketing tag line they could come up with was "I'd rather pass than be passed." Weak. And yet, how many Americans in 1995 really shopped for a sedan based on handling prowess and fun-factor? Well, I did, and that's why the Contour won my dollar over all those other cars. But most people wanted an appliance, in which case the Contour had a few shortcomings.

-Speaking of BMW: In Europe, you can get a BMW with a 1.6L 4 cylinder, cloth interior, no A/C, no cruise control, no power accessories, etc. In other words, BMW is not necessarily the "prestige" brand it is here in the states. Over there, the German-built Fords compete on a much more level footing with the other German-built brands.

-etc., etc., ad infinitum.

You know the funny thing .... I speak to lots of Contour/Mystique owners on the street ... the vast majority of them say they love the car and would buy it again in an instant. I have mentioned it to the service guys at my local dealer, and they confirm the same too.
It seems that even though the Contour is a kind of bland jack-of-all small car ... owners are generally happier with it than others.

I'm still pretty new to Canada (3.5years) so I ask nearly everyone about their vehicles. I have not found someone who can say the same about the Taurus or Focus, and only a couple of Escort owners do.
One thing that always pops up about the Contour is that it is an easy and comfortable car to drive. This was a major selling point in Europe ... seems to be a big winner for current owners here ... which makes me think that there probably were more people interested in it ... so marketing must be the big let down I guess.

Ford did a lousy job of marketing the car. Every American and Japanese car company periodically cranks out some mediocre car and then tries to convince everybody that it's a BMW 3-series fighter. Then Ford actually accomplishes the feat, and never bothers to tell anyone about it!

Furthermore, the Contour did not match mainstream American tastes very well. There are two primary types of car buyers:

-People who want an appliance for comfortably getting from point A to point B. The Contour didn't fare well because it was cramped, had an unproven reliability record, and was fairly expensive for its class.

-People who want a prestigious and/or cool-looking car. To these types it doesn't matter if the Contour could blow the doors off a ZO6 and had the interior of a Maybach. It's a 4-door Ford, 'nuff said.