Preview of Ford Mondeo

[Fluffy]

A concept car called Iosis will preview the next-generation Ford Mondeo at the Frankfurt Motor Show. Although this show car is a four-door, four-seat saloon, it will have a more coupe-like rear end and side profile than the current Mondeo, and it will give a taste for the final production car's styling, though Ford stresses that "it is not the precursor to a production model, rather an indicator of future trends."

 

 

 

Four-seat interior features wipe-clean neoprene and leather-rubber compound

Every car design project has to have a keyword and theme these days, and Ford's is "kinetic." Design director Martin Smith explains: "Ford products are acknowledged for their class-leading driving dynamics; our objective, quite simply, is to express this leadership in our design. We are calling this new language Ford 'kinetic' design, because we believe it expresses energy in motion." Smith has been tasked with overseeing the design of all of Ford's next-generation vehicles; he says that "the forms will be more distinctive and emotional, more athletic and muscular. Equally, we have to combine safety and dynamic performance and still keep the brand identity. The Iosis has great stance, it is powerful, assertive and confident, and it just cries out to be driven. That's kinetic design - energy in motion."

 

Key features of the Iosis which typify this approach include its 'inverse trapezoidal' air intake below the front grille, a prominent wheel arch lip, small kinks in the C-pillar's outline which are reflected in the rocker panel, headlamps, bonnet profile and A-pillar, and the "cat's eye" taillights.

 

 

Carbonfibre pivoting doors provide access

The Iosis also incorporates angled, pivoting doors, made from lightweight carbonfibre, which give wide-opening apertures to the cabin by opening upwards and outwards, door-mounted and interior cameras which replace rear-view mirrors and an orange-themed cabin finished in materials including wipe-clean neoprene and a kinky-sounding leather-rubber compound. Its steering wheel is solid aluminium, covered with orange leather, and it has a starter button rather than a key-ignition, a LCD screen, an electronic parking brake and sequential-shift gearbox; its central instrument stack has docking points for memory sticks which can store driver data. The seats are constructed around visible ribcage-like frames of silver carbonfibre and aluminium, and the upholstery is finished in charcoal/graphite-coloured leather with a metallic effect. Of course, not all these features will make it into the production Mondeo - least of all the trick doors - but the Iosis clearly shows that Ford plans to thoroughly modernise the Mondeo range which, although mainstream and high-volume, will nonetheless be high-tech, well-equipped and state-of-the art in its styling.

[Fluffy]

Martin Smith is an automobile designer active in the 1990s and 2000s. Born in Sheffield, England, Smith attended the Royal College of Art in London. He began at Porsche in 1973 and moved to Audi in 1977, where he designed the original Audi Quattro. He later worked with J Mays on the Audi Avus concept car and developed the Audi TT's interior. He was Director of Design for Opel/Vauxhall from 1997, working on the Opel Speedster, Astra, and Insignia concept and Vauxhall VX Lightning, which became the Saturn Sky. Today, he is Executive Director of Design at Ford Europe in 2004.

[Kanr]

Well, i love to see the car on the road soon,cheers!!

[Seansene]

I love these other views - one of the few cars that actually look even better with the doors open

[Renegade]

Is it me or does the concept look a lot like an Aston on steroids, not that it's anything bad ?

 

While I'd really love to see something as exciting as that with a "Mondeo" badge I really wonder if Ford can afford to finance a proper revamp of the current Mondeo.

 

As it is, they've retracted their target for Jaguar to reverse the red ink by 2007.

[Fluffy]

Martin Smith did a miracle for Opel, he made the Astra that was a cool as wellington boots desirable.

 

Let's see what he can do to the Mondy........can't wait !!

 

i hope he adds the "thunk" into the doors too.......

[Seansene]

Is it me or does the concept look a lot like an Aston on steroids

 

My thoughts exactly, looks like a four-door Aston. Ford of Europe Chairman Lewis Booth said of the Iosis: "Get used to this - it is our future." It looks far out, but then again, so did the Volvo ECC, and the BMW Z9, and look what happened to those companies' designs now...

[Dagger13]

Stylo Milo

[Darknight73]

drop dead gorgeous!!!

n it is a FORD???!!!

but cant a-ford lah with lambo-like doors even if it makes it to the production house.

[Spas]

That's (that this will be the Mondeo) a misconception by overenthusiastic automotive journalists.

 

Concept cars are built to showcase future designs that are on carmarkers' drawing boards.

 

In this case, this Ford concept car's designs will be used in Ford's line-up of 2007 - including the Ford Mondeo.

 

The doors of course will NEVER see the light of day - they are too expensive to mass produce, said the Ford's Briton designer.

 

More accurate to say the Mondeo and Falcon and a whole load of Fords will look like this one. The latest Ford make i'm looking forward to is the new Jaguar XK Coupe coming next year.

 

slurp

 

 

A concept car called Iosis will preview the next-generation Ford Mondeo at the Frankfurt Motor Show. Although this show car is a four-door, four-seat saloon, it will have a more coupe-like rear end and side profile than the current Mondeo, and it will give a taste for the final production car's styling, though Ford stresses that "it is not the precursor to a production model, rather an indicator of future trends."

 

 

 

Four-seat interior features wipe-clean neoprene and leather-rubber compound

Every car design project has to have a keyword and theme these days, and Ford's is "kinetic." Design director Martin Smith explains: "Ford products are acknowledged for their class-leading driving dynamics; our objective, quite simply, is to express this leadership in our design. We are calling this new language Ford 'kinetic' design, because we believe it expresses energy in motion." Smith has been tasked with overseeing the design of all of Ford's next-generation vehicles; he says that "the forms will be more distinctive and emotional, more athletic and muscular. Equally, we have to combine safety and dynamic performance and still keep the brand identity. The Iosis has great stance, it is powerful, assertive and confident, and it just cries out to be driven. That's kinetic design - energy in motion."

 

Key features of the Iosis which typify this approach include its 'inverse trapezoidal' air intake below the front grille, a prominent wheel arch lip, small kinks in the C-pillar's outline which are reflected in the rocker panel, headlamps, bonnet profile and A-pillar, and the "cat's eye" taillights.

 

 

Carbonfibre pivoting doors provide access

The Iosis also incorporates angled, pivoting doors, made from lightweight carbonfibre, which give wide-opening apertures to the cabin by opening upwards and outwards, door-mounted and interior cameras which replace rear-view mirrors and an orange-themed cabin finished in materials including wipe-clean neoprene and a kinky-sounding leather-rubber compound. Its steering wheel is solid aluminium, covered with orange leather, and it has a starter button rather than a key-ignition, a LCD screen, an electronic parking brake and sequential-shift gearbox; its central instrument stack has docking points for memory sticks which can store driver data. The seats are constructed around visible ribcage-like frames of silver carbonfibre and aluminium, and the upholstery is finished in charcoal/graphite-coloured leather with a metallic effect. Of course, not all these features will make it into the production Mondeo - least of all the trick doors - but the Iosis clearly shows that Ford plans to thoroughly modernise the Mondeo range which, although mainstream and high-volume, will nonetheless be high-tech, well-equipped and state-of-the art in its styling.

[Minicop]

Now this is one Ford that I would want to drive on the road.

[Nullifi3d]

Its one Ford worth driving but not owning.

[Cool_jazz]

now Ford is really doing something about design.

Side profile looks like a mix b/w the new Jag XK and the Aston DB9

Wheel arches look like the Mz RX8

Edited September 17, 2005 by Cool_jazz

[DarkLord]

 

Better start saving up for it liaoz!!

[Cool_jazz]

Is it me or does the concept look a lot like an Aston on steroids

 

My thoughts exactly, looks like a four-door Aston. Ford of Europe Chairman Lewis Booth said of the Iosis: "Get used to this - it is our future." It looks far out, but then again, so did the Volvo ECC, and the BMW Z9, and look what happened to those companies' designs now...

 

Wow... that makes it 3 of us.

The side looks like the DB9 and the new XK

Wheel arches look like the RX8

 

But on the whole it looks