Ford Mondeo Vignale- What's the point?

carsfan

I saw one of these in my local Ford dealer and had a look.
Basically it is a Mondeo with more chrome and more plush leather seats, with a price to rival a BMW 5 series.
Who other than Ford sales managers is going to drive one of these?
I can't remember what American politician said that "you can put lipstick on a pig but it's still a pig."
A Mondeo is a good car but this applies in this case.
Would anyone on here buy one new?

demanufactured

Nope.
I own a 08 mondeo estate....It has all I need and more .

mickdw

Someone will get a nice spec mondeo anyway in a few years for normal mondeo money.
Ive no complaints re ford offering this spec. I'm sure it costs them little to add the spec so if they sell even tiny numbers, they are likely on a winner.

delly

The name.....it just doesn't sound right..... If you get me.....#shivers#

CJhaughey

Its an attempt to move the Mondeo name a bit upmarket, TBH the Mk5 looks very Lagonda like anyway so its probably trying to make a kind of link.
They are a very nice spec and probably not far off the same size as well.
But the Mondeo name is still a bit of a problem as far as marketing goes.
I would say some other markets might just get the Vignale instead of the Mondeo Vignale.

Bigus

Probably be more reliable than a 5 series

SpannerMonkey

id love to see ford make a push into the higher end market but i think they would need a sepererate branding a bit like toyota/Lexus Nissan/Infinity or Honda /Acura .

Dont get me wrong ford make some great cars that are nice looking and well specced but to compete in the more premium brands you cant be associated with budget end cars like fiestas, and the ford emblem itself doesnt exactly scream high end .

again not slagging i have owned fords and i like them a lot but they need a big overhaul to compete with BMW, Mercedes ,Lexus or Audi

carsfan

I can understand the secondhand appeal but not a car to buy new at this price point.

mickdw

carsfan wrote: »

I can understand the secondhand appeal but not a car to buy new at this price point.

How much are they new?

carsfan

2.0 diesel manual saloon without nav is 43900 euro before delivery.
The estate another 2500 I think.
With a few options you a 5 series money

CJhaughey

mickdw wrote: »

How much are they new?

Autotrader UK has one with 50mi on it for 28stg.
Low emissions with the 2.0 TDCI 180hp though 117g Co2 so easy enough taxed and VRT'd.

bazz26

Specs are listed here:

https://vignale.ford.ie/en-IE/specs/

Have to laugh at the price of the optional extras on an already expensive posh Mondeo.

RandomAccess

CJhaughey wrote: »

But the Mondeo name is still a bit of a problem as far as marketing goes.
I would say some other markets might just get the Vignale instead of the Mondeo Vignale.

This is the Passat CC all over again.

mickdw

50k for a 2L diesel estate. Plus 7k for the tasty bits.
Madness.

You can never move upmarket while selling the same car in base spec along side it regardless of names.

Del2005

I think the new Mondeo looks like a Jag, so sticking premium parts and price isn't completely crazy. But for an upmarket Ford they could have at least dug out the Granada name. Doesn't matter if it's a Mondeo underneath as plenty of "premium" cars are based on the same platform as the standard non premium car. Ford has already done it with Volvo, Opel with Saab and just look what VAG do with their platforms.

CJhaughey

Ford own Ghia and I think a good chunk of Aston-Martin.
Vignale was already used on an Aston a while back so I guess they are creating some kind of linkage.
If they just dropped the Mondeo and called it a Vignale then it might be seen differently.
The Yanks do it quite well. Acura, Infiniti, Lexus, etc.
It wouldn't be hard for the blue oval to have Vignale inside it instead of Ford.

bazz26

Del2005 wrote: »

I think the new Mondeo looks like a Jag, so sticking premium parts and price isn't completely crazy. But for an upmarket Ford they could have at least dug out the Granada name. Doesn't matter if it's a Mondeo underneath as plenty of "premium" cars are based on the same platform as the standard non premium car. Ford has already done it with Volvo, Opel with Saab and just look what VAG do with their platforms.

A premium car sharing a platform with a non premium model is alot different to just sticking lots of chrome and extra soft leather on a main stream model while charging silly money for it. People just won't pay premium money for a posh main stream car of the masses that will only be worth what the main stream model it is based on, is worth after a year or two.

Ford were never overly successful with Volvo, in fact Volvo like Jaguar Land Rover have prospered more since being sold by Ford. And Saab's disastrous ownership under GM is pretty self explanatory.

VAG have been more successful alright with Audi but then again most of their models are different enough from their sister companies to make it work. Ford would need to do what they have done in the US with Cadillac and offer a premium brand to a similar extent like Toyota did with Lexus or Nissan with Infiniti. However it requires alot more than just adding extra chrome, soft leather and an extra badge to the boot.

AMKC

CJhaughey wrote: »

Ford own Ghia and I think a good chunk of Aston-Martin.
Vignale was already used on an Aston a while back so I guess they are creating some kind of linkage.
If they just dropped the Mondeo and called it a Vignale then it might be seen differently.
The Yanks do it quite well. Acura, Infiniti, Lexus, etc.
It wouldn't be hard for the blue oval to have Vignale inside it instead of Ford.

Ford did own Aston Martin but they don,t anymore. They sold it of the a private consortium that owns it now.
I agree Ford should have just dropped the Mondeo name and called it the Vignale.
None of them cars are American they are all Japanese cars made by Japanese company's for America. Acura is owned by Honda, Infiniti by Nissan and Lexus by Toyota.

Vic_08

SpannerMonkey wrote: »

id love to see ford make a push into the higher end market but i think they would need a sepererate branding a bit like toyota/Lexus Nissan/Infinity or Honda /Acura .

They had 4 well known marques that could have been used for this but they sold them all off. Jaguar in particular could have been much better used to create a larger volume premium brand. Volvo too was a better prospect for selling high spec luxury cars than the Ford brand.

CJhaughey

AMKC wrote: »

None of them cars are American they are all Japanese cars made by Japanese company's for America. Acura is owned by Honda, Infiniti by Nissan and Lexus by Toyota.

Thats my point, instead of their premium models being called Toyota, Honda or Nissan they create a different brand.
Thats what Ford need to do if they want to break into that sector with any success.
BTW Lexus stands for Luxury EXports to the US.

carsfan

I don't think ford have spent the type of money on vignale that Toyota spent setting up Lexus or Nissan Infiniti .
People looking at this see a chromed up mondeo. Apparently they are going to do a vignal s max too which should be interesting. The s max is already an expensive car. I specced a titanium last night on the configurator for a 2 litre diesel auto with leather and navigation and was over 52k. You can get the new Volvo XC90 now in 2 wheel drive for 63450 so a vignale s max will be up there. Ford won't have a hope convincing people to buy into this for tarted up versions of their models.

SpannerMonkey

CJhaughey wrote: »

Thats my point, instead of their premium models being called Toyota, Honda or Nissan they create a different brand.
Thats what Ford need to do if they want to break into that sector with any success.
BTW Lexus stands for Luxury EXports to the US.

thats just urban myth the name doesnt really mean anything . another one was that it was a combination of the words "luxury" and "elegance


"in 1986, Toyota’s longtime advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi formed a specialized unit, Team One, to handle marketing for the new brand.Image consulting firm Lippincott & Margulies was hired to develop a list of 219 prospective names; Vectre, Verone, Chaparel, Calibre and Alexis were chosen as top candidates. While Alexis quickly became the front runner, concerns were raised that the name applied to people more than cars (being associated with the Alexis Carrington character on the popular 1980s primetime drama Dynasty), and as a result the first letter was removed and the "i" replaced with a "u" to morph the name to Lexus

According to Team One interviews, the brand name has no specific meaning and simply denotes a luxurious and technological image"




i do agree that if they want to break into the premium market that they need to set up a seperate brand like toyotar/lexus , nissan / infinity or honda / acura

Big Nasty

Nobody here ever hear of Lincoln then?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_Motor_Company

SpannerMonkey

Big Nasty wrote: »

Nobody here ever hear of Lincoln then?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_Motor_Company

well whaddya know . never knew that Lincoln was ford . cheers

Nichard Dixon

SpannerMonkey wrote: »

well whaddya know . never knew that Lincoln was ford . cheers

Well he was shot at Ford's theatre.

Nonoperational

RandomAccess wrote: »

This is the Passat CC all over again.

Thought the cc was a fabulous car. Great looking too.

SpannerMonkey

Nonoperational wrote: »

Thought the cc was a fabulous car. Great looking too.

definitely is . its a great looking car .

Still dont nor will i ever consider VW a premium brand in the same way as BMW , Mercedes or Audi . id consider them to be top tier Family cars same as Ford Mondeo or Mazda 6

Eric Cartman

SpannerMonkey wrote: »

definitely is . its a great looking car .

Still dont nor will i ever consider VW a premium brand in the same way as BMW , Mercedes or Audi . id consider them to be top tier Family cars same as Ford Mondeo or Mazda 6

very true. The phaeton deserved an audi badge, as the A9 or some such as the A8 was intended more as a drivers car and less as a limo cruiser. Id have one now as they're so cheap second hand but buying new I would have gone with an A8/ S-Class / 7

landmarkjohn

SpannerMonkey wrote: »

nor will i ever consider VW a premium brand in the same way as BMW , Mercedes or Audi

Amazing how strong BMW etc image is. Today I was driving a 2006 318i, SE spec, leather and Xenons, a fairly nice car but was thinking about how my old 2004 B5 Passat 1.8T Highline was a better car. Every time I drive the BMW I miss the adjustable centre armrest the B5 had.:roll eyes: Maybe not comparing like for like engine wise but there you have it.

Nonoperational

Tbh I wouldn't differentiate VW and Audi at all. Mostly the same running gear.

colm_mcm

Eric Cartman wrote: »

very true. The phaeton deserved an audi badge, as the A9 or some such as the A8 was intended more as a drivers car and less as a limo cruiser. Id have one now as they're so cheap second hand but buying new I would have gone with an A8/ S-Class / 7

VW were far too shrewd for that. They lost money on every Phaeton they built but coined it on all the Passats it helped to shift.