World debut: Ford unveils Mondeo in Melbourne

FORD Australia staged the biggest surprise of this morning's Melbourne International Motor Show opening by giving its next-generation Mondeo mid-sizer its global public debut.

Due to make its first European appearance in production guise at next Tuesday's Geneva motor show, Ford Oz confirmed the redesigned Mondeo hatch will go on sale here by late this year.

The Blue Oval's premium medium contender was one of just three world debuts to appear at Melbourne today, where Peugeot's 207 CC and GTi also emerged ahead of their European premieres at Geneva on March 6, when Audi is expected to stage a simultaneous global unveiling of its all-new A6 coupe.

But Melbourne show-goers were the first to get a glimpse of the production-ready Mondeo five-door, which had previously only been seen in official pictured released in February.

Ford Australia president Tom Gorman confirmed the Mondeo hatch will go on sale late in the third quarter of this year, and will be offered with turbo-diesel power.

The new-generation Mondeo is also expected to be offered in four-door sedan, which will also debut at Geneva.

The new Mondeo will rival upmarket mid-sizers like Mazda6, Honda's Accord and Subaru's Liberty, Australia's Mondeo would be priced well above Holden's upcoming Daewoo-based Epica and the likes of Hyundai's Sonata and Kia's Magentis.

In Europe, the three-car Mondeo range will be available across four trim levels: Edge, Zetec, Ghia and Titanium X.

Engines will include a Volvo-sourced 167kW 2.5-litre five-cylinder petrol engine, a Mazda-sourced 120kW 2.3-litre four-cylinder petrol and Ford’s own 1.6 and 2.0-litre petrol units. Two (1.8-litre and 2.0-litre) TDCi turbo-diesels will also be sold in Europe.

Remaining faithful to the Paris concept's "kinetic design" language, the production Mondeo will feature standard ESP stability control, the Ford Easyfuel capless refuelling system, an alarm, air-conditioning, "follow-me-home" lights, a trip computer and an MP3 connector socket.

Options in Europe will comprise keyless entry and keyless start with a "Ford Power" start button, Ford's new "Convers+" Human Machine Interface (HMI) instrument display, Adaptive Cruise Control with Forward Alert, Interactive Vehicle Dynamics Control with Hill Launch Assist and a tyre pressure monitoring system.

Ford claims the new Mondeo will feature wider wheel tracks, an "optimised" front MacPherson strut suspension design, a new four-link Control Blade rear suspension design, an isolated rear subframe and an "optimised" steering system.

Together, they're said to reduce noise, vibration and harshness, as well as improved sound quality. Ford claims best-in-class wind noise.

The previous Mondeo was introduced here in 1997 and withdrawn in 2000, barely 12 months after it was revamped and a sports-oriented ST24 variant was added.