The redesigned Ford Mondeo has been leaked, and it bears a close resemblance to the new Evos crossover.
Like the Evos, it’s only for China, with the images having leaked from the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and been shared by Sohu and Cochespias.
At 4935mm long, 1875mm wide and 1500mm tall, the new Mondeo is 63mm longer, 23mm wider and 19mm higher than the outgoing Mondeo hatchback.
It also rides on a 2945mm long wheelbase, 95mm longer than that of the current car, and has a kerb weight of 1976kg.
It’s understood to be underpinned by a version of the C2 platform used in, among other Fords, the Focus and Escape.
The Mondeo will reportedly offer a choice of 1.5-litre and 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engines, mated with an eight-speed automatic transmission.
The larger of the two engines, shared with the Evos, will produce 175kW of power and 376Nm of torque.
The front end is almost identical to the Evos, with slim lighting elements and a shield-shaped grille.
The side sculpting is virtually identical to the Evos, too, leaving the key changes down back.
Here, it drops the liftback layout of the Evos in favour of a sedan boot. The tail lights are also a departure, though they’re still connected as part of one full-width assembly.
The rear bumper and number plate cutouts are similar to the Evos, as is the large lettering for the model name across the boot, though the Ford logo sits above the lighting assembly instead of below it.
While interior photos of the new Mondeo have yet to be revealed, it’s expected to hew closely to the Evos.
Ford Evos
That means an enormous 1.1m-wide screen assembly, running almost the entire width of the dashboard, which encompasses a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster and 27-inch 2K touchscreen running on Ford’s new Sync+ 2.0 operating system.
Also likely is the availability of Ford’s BlueCruise, an SAE Level 2 autonomous driving feature that allows for hands-free driving on certain highways in China.
The outgoing Mondeo and its North American Fusion sibling have been slowly being phased out.
Production of the Fusion ended in the US in 2020, the Mondeo was axed locally the same year, and Ford of Europe confirmed earlier this year it’d end production of the model in 2022.
Ford Evos
That has left the Mondeo/Fusion’s third production location, China, where the new model will be built alongside the related Evos.
This Chinese focus (no, not that Focus) is largely due to declining sales for mid-sized passenger cars in the US, Europe and Australia, among other markets.
It’s a far cry from the first-generation Mondeo, which was conceived as a “world car” for the Ford brand – even the name was derived from the Latin word for ‘world’, mundus.
Lincoln Zephyr 
Photos have also leaked online of a production version of the Lincoln Zephyr Reflection concept, which also packs a turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine and will also be exclusive to China.
It’s understood to share its platform with the Mondeo and Evos, though its wheelbase is 15mm shorter.
Ford’s luxury brand recently commenced Chinese production, allowing it to sell models without hefty import tariffs.
It’s the successor to the MKZ, a more upscale relative to the Ford Fusion. In its previous (first) generation, the MKZ – based on the then-Mazda 6-derived first-generation Fusion – was initially sold as the Zephyr.
It’s not unprecedented for an established Ford nameplate to live on in China.
Taurus 
Territory
The Territory name was dusted off for a rebadged Yusheng S330 made in China and sold there and in Latin America.
Likewise, the long-running American Taurus nameplate – first introduced in 1986 – received another generation exclusively for the Chinese market.
Based on the CD4 platform of the outgoing Mondeo, it entered production in 2015. Meanwhile, US buyers continued to be offered the 2010-vintage model until it was axed in 2019 as part of Ford North America’s SUV and pickup push.
