Originally posted by BOFH:

The US built Duratec engines were used because of some exchange rate issues that made this attractive. I suspect there was some excess capacity on the 2.5L engine line as the Contour and Mystique were not the radical sales success' that Ford had hoped for.



As I remeber it, Ford pretty much crammed the Duratec down the throat of Mazda due to the excess capacity you mention. Mazda wasn't all that happy about it and the magazines pretty much panned the vehicle as the 2.5 did not have the torque to push the heavier MPV around.