The Ford Mondeo family, also known as the Fusion in some markets, will be going into its next generation in 2021. As evidenced by these latest spy shots, it will get a new “crossover wagon” body style similar to that of the Subaru Outback, Volkswagen Passat Alltrack, or the Volvo V60 Cross Country.
The metamorphosis has good reasons. Back in the 1990s, the Mondeo used to sell 300,000 copies annually in Europe alone. In 2018, only 49,596 cars found new owners in the Old World. Customers in the USA proved more active with 173,600 units of the Ford Fusion bought in 2018, but the number still pales against the 306,860 units sold in 2014.
The test mule depicted here is based on the Focus estate/wagon body. Its wheelbase and road clearance are considerably larger. It is already official that the final production version of the Mondeo/Fusion will drop its old CD4 architecture in favor of the C2 platform of the newest Focus. The platform will be made longer to accommodate the third seat row.
Aside from the Mondeo, the newcomer will replace the old S-Max and Galaxy minivans in Europe. It will come powered by a 1.5-liter turbocharged three-cylinder engine in its most basic implementation, but you will be able to opt for a 2.0-liter diesel or a hybrid. The latter might end up coming from the Kuga Plug-In Hybrid, whose naturally aspirated 2.5-liter mill and electric motor join efforts for 225 hp (168 kW).
The U.S.-sold Fusion may get stronger engines, potentially even six-cylinder ones. That said, this is not very likely, given that the range-topping Sport trim with its V6 2.7 EcoBoost mill, 329 hp (245 kW) and 515 Nm (380 lb-ft) of torque has just been pulled out of production. There will be no all-electric version for sure, as that niche will soon be filled by a new Mustang-like crossover SUV, likely based on the same C2 chassis.