UPDATE - NEW PICTURE GALLERY

And yes this is it : Ford's Paris Show star, the Mondeo Wagon Concept ! The pictures, surfaced this morning from a Spanish site called "Cocheactual". As previewed a few days ago on a scanned image from Top Gear magazine -click here: Carscoop , Ford's pre-production Mondeo is based on the Station Wagon version. Have to say, for a station wagon, it looks pretty nice -especially when compared with today's, utterly boring Mondeo SW.

Talking about design, Mondeo Wagon Concept is influenced by the last year's Iosis sport sedan concept that was previewed in Frankfurt and it's the second model in Ford's European range (after the S-MAX & Galaxy MPV's) that's styled under the "kinetic theme" design language. We also see quite a few S-MAX design elements on the Mondeo Wagon Concept such as the rear lights.

But styling is not the only thing that the Mondeo has in common with Ford's new MPV's. Mondeo uses the new S-MAX & Galaxy platform (it will also base future Volvo models). I've driven the S-MAX 2.5 Turbo and I tell you, not only is it by far the most driver orientated car of its category but it puts to shame quite a lot of mid-sized sedans. So I can imagine that the, smaller, lighter and lower Mondeo will continue its predecessor's legacy of being the most fun to drive mid-size sedan in its category.

The production model will be revealed at next year's Geneva Motor Show in March, in both sedan & station wagon versions. Although nothings official yet, the Mondeo will surely be available with S-MAX & Focus ST 225 Hp 2.5 Turbo motor and Ford's 155 Hp 2.2 TDCi diesel.

Judging from the Wagon, I have high hopes that the sedan will follow the Iosis concept's sporty, 4door-coupe design (see pictures above) -of course, don't expect any gullwing doors. If you combine that with the driver orientated S-MAX platform I mentioned before, then I believe Ford will have a serious contender for the first place in the mid-sized sedan category.

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