Thursday 21 January 2010

Next Ford Mondeo to be a world car

The next Mondeo is set to follow the Focus and Fiesta and become Ford’s third world car.

Insiders at the highest level have confirmed that designs for the new Mondeo are now nearing completion and the finished car is expected to hit the showrooms in 2014, when it will replace the European Mondeo and the U.S market Fusion. Like the new Focus, it’s also expected to be manufactured in Europe, the U.S and China.

In a break from tradition though, the new Mondeo is being designed and engineered in the U.S. The finished production car though will be sold globally with no design changes to suit local markets, although as with the Focus and Fiesta there will probably be small chassis alterations to suit local driving conditions.

Poor exchange rate could result in higher VW prices (UK)

Volkswagen prices will have to rise if the Pound continues at its current low level against the Euro, says the new group head of sales and marketing, Dr Christian Klingler.

'Up to now we are handling the strength of the Euro, but if the Pound stays at a low level prices will rise,' said Klinger.

It is a problem VW faces in other countries with weak currencies, including America. That is one reason why VW is moving away from the idea of global cars -the strategy that Ford is pursuing - and starting to focus on local production tailored to specific markets.

VW will open its first U.S factory at Chattannooga, Tennessee, in the middle of 2011. It will produce a mid-sized saloon for America, Canada and Mexico at the rate of 150,000 models a year, which means the next-generation Passat is unlikely to cross the Atlantic.

'One of the reasons for choosing Chattanooga is exchange rates,' said Klingler, 'but we must also consider the needs of our customers in different areas of the world. We try to adapt our cars for the needs of the market.' 

The VAG group – which includes Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, Seat, Skoda and now Porsche – is the third-largest vehicle producer in the world. Last year it sold 6.3 million vehicles and claimed 11.4% of the global market. 

'Audi did better than expected, Skoda was very strong and Seat showed an increase despite the weakness of its domestic market,' said Klingler. Bentley sales were down by nearly 40%, but Klingler says this was 'a situation that was a consequence of an external crisis'. He forecast: 'It will come back.'
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...