- Price drops see reductions up to £3000 – with associated benefits for drivers in reduced BIK and companies in lower NI payments
- Range reduced to five-series – debuts of new ST-Line Edition and Titanium Edition models
- Expanded sporty ST-Line range responds to customer demand
- Vignale series enhanced with Nero detailing
- Satellite navigation with 8in touchscreen, autonomous braking plus front and rear parking sensors standardised across refreshed Mondeo range
FORD has reacted to the customer demand for SUV models away from traditional car choices by realigning the Mondeo range.
Prices have been reduced and the range simplified, emphasising Mondeo sporty or Mondeo luxury. The new Zetec Edition becomes the entry level Mondeo, now priced at £19,445.
Mondeo model realignment analysis
Mondeo model realignment analysisIt’s no surprise really that Ford has taken this decision. SUVs are the style of the moment. According to JATO Dynamics, in H1 2017 SUV took 28.3% of the market; the D segment 7.9% (down from H1 year on year).
It’s something that Ford fleet director Owen Gregory (left) admits:
“Back in 2009 the segment was worth 174,000 vehicles as an industry. Last year that had fallen to 106,000. There’s been a real kind of trend, partially offset by growth in premium brands, but in the volume area where we sit it’s down.
“The encouraging thing for me is that against this backdrop we’ve grown our share in true fleet. In other words Mondeo has been holding its own and building its position.”
For the end user of the product there are definite benefits, though. For business users, there is reduced BIK liability. For example, on the ST-Line Edition 2.0 TDCi 150PS model, a 40% tax payer would save £720 over a typical three year operating period. The employer would save £300 on the employer’s fleet National Insurance costs.
“As we do all the time, we track where our customers are going and where the market is heading and what do we need to tweak the product to make it relevant,” commented Owen Gregory, Ford of Britain fleet director (below).
“We are seeing some major developments, the biggest from conventional into SUVs. Thus there is a need for us to make some changes to Mondeo.
“Our thinking on this was – what is Mondeo good at and how can we dial that up?
“There are two areas. Sportiness – are vehicles are well regarded in terms of driving dynamics so we could build on the ST Line execution – hence the introduction of the ST Line Edition.
“The second is luxury. One of key reasons people buy big vehicles is the luxury element, so we’ve added more – power headed seats on Titanium X and on Vignale keeping it visually attractive.
“The other part with business users in mind is adjusting our list prices in such a way so that we can unlock some BIK tax reductions for drivers and some NI savings for employers.”
All five of the realigned Mondeo models have navigation, DAB, autonomous braking to mitigate or avoid low-speed collisions at under 31mph, front/rear parking sensors and cruise control with speed limiter as standard.
ST-Line series introduce extras including front, rear and side body styling, lowered sports suspension, Ford Power start button and darkened headliner. Privacy glass and 19in rock metallic alloy wheels are added on the ST-Line Edition.
The new Titanium Edition offers premium leather heated seats, with front 10-way power adjustment.
On Vignale the former optional Vignale Nero appearance pack – comprising 19in dark tarnish alloys and darkened fog lamp bezels, lower grille and side strips – is now made standard Mondeo Vignale specification.
Price realignment and better RVs
OTR prices are reduced by £3,000 (on Vignale), £2,500 (on Zetec and ST-Line Editions) and £2,000 (on Titanium Edition).
Gregory says the changes have been recognised by the RV setters, CAP giving a £900 uplift on Titanium Edition models following the changes.
The new prices are effective September 18 with deliveries of new cars in November.
Gregory said Ford would start to communicate the changes in detail to leasing companies and finance houses over the next few weeks.
