In North America? Changan Ford averaged only about 60k per year in China for this generation Mondeo. China is by far the largest market in the world for anonymous unibody sedans, so I don't understand how Ford could easily sell 75k per year in any other market.
Replaced the piece of trim on the passenger side front fender today. The trim and the bumper cover both had a pretty obvious bow in them.
Here are before and after photos.
Before:
After:
Next task will be to remove the hood hinge on the passenger side. It won't allow the back of the hood to fit flush with the top of the fender which you can see in the first photo. I already tried adjusting the hinge but it won't go any lower. When you compare it to the driver side hinge you can see a much larger gap between the hinge and the underside of the hood on the passenger side. I can't really see any obvious bend in the hinge so it might be that the inner sheet metal of the hood where the hinge bolts on may have pulled down due to the spring pressure of the hinge or someone pushing the hood too high and causing the sheet metal to flex. It's hard to see from these photos but there is at least a half inch difference from side to side in how far the center hinge pin is from the underside of the hood.
Driver side:
Passenger side:
Yea, and to other customers lookin' for the best deal on "toasters on wheels", which is exactly what this refreshed Mondeo represents.
One of the big shots at Ford, VP Jim Baumbick said Ford ain't goin' down that road (outside China, I guess):
We’re not trying to make toasters on wheels. We’re not trying to make just commodity products. It’s all about emotion.