"Even at the time the early models were considered a dull replacement "
[citation needed]
Car magazines from 1993 raved about the Mondeo, Autocar drove one 12,000 miles in a week (over the channel and then around the Autobahns, given that's a 71mph 24/7 average to save you reaching for the calculator). Four up, they claimed it was comfortable and capable.
Auto Express in 1992 explored how they came up with the name - from the French "Monde" as this was the first World Car designed to be sold in all major markets without much change above legislative requirements like lighting. The design name was CDW to illustrate this - the CD meaning a mid-sized car, and they forced the W in there to mean World.
It costs a lot to change the name of a car. When they went from Escort to Focus, they kept the Escort around for two years so dealers could sell them to people who insisted that's the car they wanted - ignoring the Focus wasn't much more expensive, and a world away in terms of design and ability. They went in for an Escort, as they'd had an Escort since 1982, and if Ford no longer did the Escort then they'd go and buy an Astra. They also learned a lot from the Cortina->Sierra swap which boosted Cavalier sales by a huge amount.
Perhaps the dull image came later, with the "Mondeo Man" political campaign. Ford can't have been too unhappy that their car was chosen as a representation for a good, reliable man in the street though.
"despite Ford's attempt to redesign the lights and grille."
The first Mondeo left the production line in November 1992 and dealers got stock in Feb 1993. The facelift came into play in late 1997, four and a bit years on sale is a pretty standard cycle for panelwork changes. If ford had been upset with the Mk1, then they would have done that much sooner - such as with the Mk5 Escort in 1990 which was absolutely panned by a lot of publications and gained a new front and rear end in 1992.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
