The End of The World

As an English speaker, I never made the connection with the name Mondeo (Ford's "World Car") and various words for "World" in the Latin languages - Mundo, Monde, Mondo.

He's left is lights on - hope he doesn't get a flat battery.

Anyway, Autocar announced the inevitable this week - the death of the Mondeo.

They followed it up the following day with one of their most-excellent slideshows portraying the history of the car.

I use the word "inevitable" as it was fighting a losing battle on three fronts:

1. Premium Brands
2. Smaller Cars
3. Bloody SUVs/Crossovers

Being a badge-snob, I am guilty of the first of these - my last three cars, a Merc, a Jag and my current BMW are Mondeo sized vehicles - my Jag even shared its underpinnings with the Mondeo - but why have a Ford when you can have a premium name for not too much more money and with less depreciation.  And, as Autocar point out, cars bought/financed on leasing schemes take into account depreciation so it can actually work out cheaper to get a premium brand.

Smaller cars are getting bigger - a subject I tackled in 2019.  Mondeo Man doesn't actually need a Mondeo any more - a Focus is plenty big enough for him and his 2.4 children - the 0.4 can go in the boot.

Since the new car registrations - the 21-Reg's - came out on March 1st, every single one of them I have seen has been a cross-over.  I hate them - but an awful lot of Chinese people love them and an awful lot of British people seem to too - it is depressing but most people are not car people.

So, as a car fan, this may not actually be the end of The World, but it is the end of The World as we know it.