When it comes to choosing the best possible Saloon Cars, most car magazines or other Automotive mediums will inevitably point you in the direction of one particular make and model; the Ford Mondeo. The Ford Mondeo has been a consistent and popular seller since its release in 1993. Back then it was the replacement for the relatively popular Ford Sierra, which had been a good flagship model for Ford in the company car sector, but was beginning to lose steam. The Ford Mondeo was meant to reinvigorate the design and bring a more 'executive' edge to the manufacturer who were beginning to run out of ideas.
The Mondeo then began a 20+ year domination over the saloon car market, which is yet to dissipate thanks to Ford's constantly evolving design ethic. The current design falls into Ford's new 'Kinetic' design aesthetic, which is meant to represent the vehicle's movement even when it is standing stock still. This sounds a little bit 'clichйd' as far as design briefs go, but in practice it really works and looks rather striking.
In a rather crude experiment to see how the Ford Mondeo has evolved over time, I have spent the week comparing an original Mark 1 Mondeo to the new Mark 4 edition. Obviously first impressions are vastly differing; the Mk1 looks rather too much like the old Sierra for my liking, but is definitely a step in the right direction. In contrast, the MK4 looks like it was designed by Mercedes during a cloning of an SLK experiment gone wrong. In short, it looks fantastic.
The performance test confirms the new edition's clear dominance over the past incumbent. In a one lap time trial race of a 3.4 mile race track, there was a clear winner despite both cars having 2.0 Litre petrol engines. As if you hadn't guessed, the MK 4 won by a shamefully long 6.3 seconds.
So what we can agree on is that the Ford Mondeo's star is definitely still in its ascendency. Whether it will maintain its positive trajectory rather depends on Ford and the often fickle buying public.
