Rumormill: Ford working on four-door Mondeo coupe
It seems most car buyers today have decided that the aesthetic advantages of the two-door coupe body style are not worth the ergonomic hassles of getting in and out of the back seat. To remedy that issue, most every automaker has or very soon will introduce a car with a coupe-like profile and extra doors to ease ingress/egress. This design trend runs the gamut from mainstream models like the VW Passat CC to near exotics like the Aston Martin Rapide and Porsche Panamera. Ford apparently doesn't want to miss out on this potentially profitable trend and may create a four-door coupe based on the best selling Mondeo. If this rendering from CAR is anything by which to judge, the Mondeo coupe will take Kinetic design to a new extreme with a low profile greenhouse, frameless windows, and rear-door openings that are almost certain to induce some concussions. As the premium Mondeo (if indeed it wears that badge), it will get all the techno goodness one would expect of such a car in the 21st century. It may also carry a variant of the 2.7L diesel V6 that Ford has previously installed in Jaguars. Interestingly, the article also mentions AdBlue, which is the urea injection system used to reduce NOx emissions of diesel engines. If Ford adds urea injection, this engine could likely pass U.S. Tier 2 Bin 5 emissions and could even come to the States someday.
[Source: CAR]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Rene Curry 8:43AM (6/09/2008)
The present Mondeo that I see in China is a very beautiful car. I give Ford designers a lot of credit on this model. Too bad the design didn't carry over into the states.
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ML 8:45AM (6/09/2008)
So, is it the latest trend in auto manufacturing to call four-door sedans "coupes"? What next, call two-door coupes "convertibles"? And then what, call station wagons "roadsters" and pick-up trucks "sedans"? Who came up with this silliness anyway?
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Kumail 12:38PM (6/09/2008)
probobly mazda with their RX-8, which is still the only true 4-door coupe'. oh, and then there is the clubman, i guess
Jim Pease 8:49AM (6/09/2008)
I still want the Mondeo station wagon. I'm all about convenience and utility!
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DJ 8:51AM (6/09/2008)
OMG, I think I'm in LOVE! It's a poor man's Aston, designed by the same guy no less.
Who gives a damn if they call it a coupe, just bring it to the US.
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Sean Flanagan 9:06AM (6/09/2008)
Henrik Fisker designed the current batch of Aston Martins, and he doesn't work for Ford anymore. This will have been designed by the Modeo team.
DJ 10:16AM (6/09/2008)
I thought that Ian Callum designed the current DB series and Rapide.
Torrent 1:38PM (6/09/2008)
Agreed. Make it.
DJ 8:53AM (6/09/2008)
BTW, speaking of what to call it,..... Didn't we used to call 4-door cars with frameless windows a hardtop?
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ML 9:02AM (6/09/2008)
Yeah, we called them FOUR DOOR hardtops. And we called pillarless coupes TWO DOOR hardtops. But now marketing idiots are calling four door sedans 'coupes'.
Kimura 9:59AM (6/09/2008)
Frameless windows and no B-Pillar. If it has either one of those it isn't a true hardtop.
hashiryu 1:02PM (6/09/2008)
The manufacturers are to blame, as well as the idiot auto-jounalists propagating the BS.
4 door coupe = oxymoron
Alex 9:07AM (6/09/2008)
i don't care if they call it an SUV, that car needs to come stateside.
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ML 9:07AM (6/09/2008)
Actually, I guess it's all about freedom of expression. Call them anything you want. In fact, I'm going to call my Prelude's 4-cylinder engine a "V8" because it's my right. Besides, it's my word against everyone elses if I choose to call my car's engine a V8(!).
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Ray 8:14PM (6/09/2008)
Ford's not smart enough to bring that to the U.S.
Not to mention, how many people would actually buy that instead of a say, Camry or Accord, considering Ford's quality issues here in the states?
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SGV 12:00PM (6/10/2008)
What quality issues? The fact maybe that Ford quality is ranked as high as Toyota's or Honda's?
This is a fantastic car that would sell on looks alone . . . and then there are those pesky quality ratings.
Of all American car companies Ford seems to be doing things better these days. As much as we love to beat them when they suck we should learn to acknowledge when they rule. This is one of those cases.
Avinash machado 9:44AM (6/09/2008)
Should be sold as a Mercury. Might help give the Mercury brand some street cred.
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MemphisNET 10:03AM (6/09/2008)
I find it funny that the only thing anyone is disliking, is the fact they're using the term coupe
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adrian 11:15AM (6/09/2008)
That's because car magazines are promoting the coupe name too much, and in a form that does not apply to the type of car that manufacturers like Ford are proposing, like this Mondeo. Looks nice, But it's not a coupe.
mk 10:53AM (6/09/2008)
Nice to see that not everyone is up for the complete destruction of vocabulary.
I thought I was the only one for a while, when the CLS first came out, and said it was going to set a precedent for the definition of the word 'coupe' to be degraded.
That being said, the car looks nice enough. Probably still a FWD chassis, though. Let me know when Ford builds something with a manual transmission, and RWD or rear-biased AWD that might actually be compelling...
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