The death of Mondeo Man

It recently came to my attention that Ford have quietly launched a brand new Mondeo for 2015. This must have been a low-key event as the new model completely passed me and several other car enthusiasts by and I have seen little advertising, but not so long ago the debut of a new Mondeo would have been a cause of major excitement among company car drivers and fleet managers eager to get their hands on something new to show off to their colleagues. That just shows how marginal this once-universal model has become - the ubiquity of Mondeos was such that they even entered popular culture by spawning a nickname for the type of people who typically drove them, sales reps in the 1990s being almost universally characterised as 'Mondeo Man'. Nowadays though, it seems Mondeo Man is becoming an endangered species and has been usurped by 'German Saloon Man' as the traditional Mondeo users are turning en masse to 'prestige' brands such as Audi, BMW and Mercedes.  


Although it is now a couple of months since launch, I am still yet to see a latest-generation Mondeo on the road, and even the local Ford dealer, who admittedly never sold many Mondeos but usually kept a couple in stock, have only just got a solitary example that appears to have missed the March 1st registration change. In contrast their forecourt is full of Kas and Fiestas plastered with details of their finance packages, so the big Mondeo looks quite out of place. Most of the late-model Mondeos around here seem to be used as minicabs and there aren't that many of them; they even seem to be outnumbered by Saabs, which strike me as an odd choice of taxi.

An object of desire to the sales reps of 1993. This is the range-topping Ghia model, the most desirable of all.

It has been some years since sales of the BMW 3-series, once thought of as an unusual alternative to the typical repmobiles for those who wanted something different, overtook the Mondeo, and fellow German brands Audi and Mercedes have also become a mainstream choice, so the Mondeos and Vectras once typically found in office car parks have been all but replaced by A4s and C-classes. I never thought anyone would ever say this, but if you're a company car user looking for something different and exclusive, maybe you should choose a Mondeo to stand out from the German crowd! 

The trouble seems to be that image is everything in the company car world and your choice of transport still says a lot about you. The German brands have carefully managed to move into volume sales while retaining their traditional values of quality and prestige, but Ford has always been a maker of 'bread and butter' cars and just isn't seen as being in the same league despite products that are equal or better on merit. It's a shame really as I know a couple of people who drive nearly-new Mondeos and love them, and they are every bit as good as the competition. Saying "I drive a Ford Mondeo" just doesn't have that same ring of importance as someone who can say "I drive a Mercedes (or Audi, or BMW, or even Volkswagen maybe)" and in a world where people's success is judged by what they drive, the Mondeo faces an uphill battle for that reason alone.

Not as desirable to the sales reps of 2015. Nice car but the Ford badge just doesn't cut it anymore.

Styling of the new car is smart and attractive and it offers some interesting technology including the option of EcoBoost and hybrid versions, and the forthcoming flagship Vignale model, offering a wide choice of personalisation options and a comprehensive aftercare package at a substantial price premium over the rest of the range, is an interesting development to move the Mondeo upmarket. The car can't be helped by some unfortunate choices of advertising though - alongside the photos of the shiny new Mondeo on carbuyer.co.uk when I viewed them was an advert for the BMW 3-series on a tempting finance deal, while Top Gear's news piece was accompanied by promotions for Audi and Mercedes! Foot well and truly shot...

An unfortunate juxtaposition. The Mondeo's nice but you could have a Mercedes instead...

It remains to be seen how well the new Mondeo will sell and if it will manage to reverse the model's decline, but it seems fairly certain that the reign of Mondeo Man has well and truly come to an end and he is becoming an increasingly rare sight on the motorways and in the office car parks of Britain. A shame really, as 'German Saloon Man' isn't anywhere near as catchy.