- The Mondeo will be phased out in March 2022
- Ford launched the large family car in 1993 as a replacement for the ageing Sierra
- The Mondeo was initially a huge hit but sales have slumped in recent years as SUVs have become the must-have family car
It's the end of the road for the Mondeo. Ford has confirmed that its large family car will be phased out and replaced with a new range of electric vehicles. The last Mondeo will roll off the production line in Valencia, Spain in March 2022.
Ford says the decision to axe the Mondeo has been driven by falling sales, with buyer demand shifting to SUVs and crossovers. In 2020, 39% of Ford’s passenger vehicle sales were SUVs and crossovers – up eight percentage points from 2019.
The part of the large car market that Mondeo competes in has declined by 80% over the past 20 years, according to Ford, but the S-MAX and Galaxy will continue, with new hybrid engines being added this year.
The Mondeo has all-hybrid petrol engines and low emission diesels, but the overall Ford car range is transitioning to include all-electric options. Ford has said the Mondeo’s platform doesn't support a pure electric powertrain and the current model will not be replaced.
Ford predicts by mid-2026 100 per cent of its passenger vehicle range in the UK will be zero-emissions capable, all-electric or plug-in hybrid; moving to all-electric by 2030.
1992, the Ford Mondeo is born
It was the year Wet Wet Wet topped the charts, that Alan Shearer became the UK’s most expensive footballer, that Charles and Di separated, and we all had to pay 15% interest rates as the pound crashed out of Europe. But 1992 was also the year Ford launched one of the best-selling cars ever made: the Mondeo.
The Mondeo was masterminded by engineering genius Richard Parry-Jones - who would go on to lead the Focus, Puma and KA into production.
Unveiled on November 23, 1992 as a replacement for the Sierra, Ford's new family car became an instant hit and took the European Car of the Year title.
Journalists and drivers praised the Mondeo's styling, handling and value. It also had a quiet and spacious cabin, plus plenty of kit. Ford sold 90,000 cars in the Mondeo's first full year of production in 1993.
It was offered with a wide range of engine and trim options - the Zetecs were good, the V6 near-brilliant - and let's not forget that the Mondeo could also be equipped with traction control and four-wheel drive.
Later versions of the Mondeo would go on to appear in motorsport, with former F1 champion Nigel Mansell competing in the UK's touring car championship with the fast Ford. The Mondeo would also star in Daniel Craig's first James Bond film in 2006, Casino Royale.
The Mondeo's lasting cultural legacy, however, would come from the political sphere with former Prime Minister Tony Blair using the term ‘Mondeo Man’ to capture the 1990s' image of the self-made man of middle England, owning his own home, earning a decent wage, supporting his family – a swing voter looking to back the political party that put the most money in his pocket.
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