Cutter Mondeo – Now it’s over

It is perhaps only the Volvo station wagon that can compete with the German Ford as a symbol of a well-established family with children.

Now Ford has decided to stop production of what has been one of Norway’s most popular cars. In total, more than five million units of the Mondeo have been sold since it came on the market in 1993. The car is currently being built at Ford’s factory in Valencia, Spain, but production will stop in March next year.

Only 96 cars

Not even Norwegians, who in all years have had station wagons at the top of their wish list when buying a new car, want the Mondeo anymore.

In 2015, 2,500 Mondeos were sold here at home. Last year, it had dropped to number 124 on the list of the best-selling car models in Norway. Only 96 cars were sold.

Test: Surprisingly positive in many ways

Sales elsewhere in Europe have also not been much to brag about lately. In 2020, 21,053 Mondeo station wagons and sedans were sold.

SUV to the people

Now there are SUV car buyers in Norway and the rest of Europe want. Car manufacturers are currently investing large sums in the electrification of the car fleet, and must prioritize this over keeping models with low sales figures.

Anne Sønsteby is information manager at Ford Norway, and has looked closely at how quickly the tastes of car buyers have changed:

– Mondeo has been a fantastic success for us in Norway for almost 30 years. The model that came in 2007 is perhaps the one that attracted the most attention and excitement due to a completely new design direction and better driving characteristics.

Electric cars more important

At the same time, customers, both in Norway and in Europe, are increasingly wanting more tall SUVs and crossovers.

All about the Ford Mustang Mach-E

– Last year, these accounted for almost 39 percent of Ford’s passenger car sales. We must take this into account when we prioritize the large-scale investment in electric cars we are now in the middle of. We must ensure that we have the models that customers want and that meet their needs, says Sønsteby.

She says that the cars that will take over for Mondeo are already in the shops.

The cars that take over

– We develop and strengthen the model range with SUVs such as Kuga, Puma and Explorer rechargeable hybrid. In addition, we have introduced the new all-electric SUV Mustang Mach-E in Norway. Not least the latter is a car Norwegians are queuing up to buy, Sønsteby concludes.

In February incidentally told Stuart Rowley, the president of Ford Motor in Europe, that all their models should be all-electric by 2030.

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