Checking out a Ford Mondeo Ghia sedan, seen in the far east of Beijing in the summer of 2018. The Ford was parked totally illegally on the pavement on the edge of a small public garden in a residential area.
The second generation Ford Mondeo was made in China by the Changan-Ford joint venture from 2004 until 2008. At the time, especially in its early years, it was one of the very few locally produced semi-premium sedans. ‘Ghia’ was the top trim level. Its main competitor was the Volkswagen Passat, made by SAIC-VW.
I’ve always liked the way the Mondeo looked. A typical sedan shape without any unnecessary lines. And that means it looks classy even today. I like it so much indeed that I bought a 1:18 model of the Changan-Ford Mondeo, in the same silver color as this one!
The wheels urgently needed some work.
The interior of these early Mondeo’s was super luxurious with real leather seats and wood trim on the doors.
And like many luxury sedans of the time, the Mondeo Ghia was equipped with a DVD system. Passengers in the back could watch movies and other entertainment on small displays integrated in the back of the front seat head rests.
The top trim Ghia cars had a Ghia badge on the rear-side window. That was a bot of an odd place. Most such badges sit on the C-pillar. A result of this placing was a more-than-okay amount of rain water hitting down on the badge during bad weather. I have seen so many of these badges like this; loaded with drops and barely recognizable. Too bad for a badge！
The Changan-Ford Mondeo was available with two engines: a 2.0 liter four-cylinder with 143 hp and 185 Nm, or a 2.5 liter V6 with 173 hp and 225 Nm. The former was mated to a 5-speed manual or a 4-speed automatic, the latter to a 4-speed auto only. The car we have here is the 2.5 V6. Prices in 2006 started at 229.800 yuan.
Characters: 长安福特 (Cháng’ān Fútè). The joint venture uses this ‘handwritten’ badge until today.
The early cars had a MONDEO badge in English. Later on, the locally produced Mondeo also got a badge with the Chinese name: 蒙迪欧 (Méngdí’ōu).
Ford still makes the Mondeo in China, but nowadays it is a China-only model, as the rest of the world doesn’t appear to be interested in sedans anymore.
The second-generation Ford Mondeo was a great China-made premium sedan, especially in this classy V6 trim.