+Autocar magazine has some interesting speculation today about production of the… 4


+Autocar magazine has some interesting speculation today about production of the new generation +Ford Motor Company Mondeo. The Mondeo is Ford's midsize C/D segment car in Europe and the rest of the world and is the counterpart to the Fusion sold here in North America.

As part of the automaker's move to globalize all of its platforms, the next-generation Fusion and Mondeo will be essentially the same vehicle sold around the world, unlike the current models which are the same size but share almost no parts. Currently Mondeos for the European market are built in Genk, Belgium. Unfortunately the current problems in the European market make it difficult to justify building the Mondeo there because there just isn't enough demand to fill a whole plant. 

Ford's global strategy could address that because all of the refreshed plants around the world are using the same production processes and could easily build any variation for any market. Here in North America, production of the Fusion has begun at the Hermosillo Mexico factory and earlier this week Ford announced that the Flat Rock Assembly Plant in Michigan http://fordfusionstory.com/latest/index.php/2012/09/10/flat-rock-assembly-plant-becomes-a-new-home-for-ford-fusion/ would add Fusion production in 2013.

With the available capacity at Flat Rock and Hermosillo, Ford could almost certainly meet all of the European demand for Mondeos along with the Fusions needed here. Best of all, if Hermosillo were to produce Mondeo wagons, it could even open up the possibility of building some Fusion wagons for America (here's hoping anyway!)

The Mexican Mondeo? | Autocar
Could plant closures be the real reason for the new Ford Mondeo’s production delays?

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