You Can Still Buy a New Ford Sedan

Ford has essentially given up on regular cars. Years ago, it wiped out the Fiesta, Focus, Fusion, and Taurus from its lineup in the United States. The Blue Oval is now about to pull the plug on its last car sold in Europe. In November, the last Focus will roll off the assembly line. After that, the Mustang will remain the sole model that’s not a pickup truck, an SUV, or a van. However, you can still buy a new sedan in some parts of the world.

While you’d be tempted to say these images were made with AI, the Taurus is a real car. It’s a midsize sedan Ford sells in the Middle East. In China, the same model goes by the name of Mondeo and is offered alongside a raised wagon—the Mondeo Sport. Both vehicles were largely developed in China, with no plans to bring them to the US or Europe.

Depending on the market, Ford sells the Mondeo/Taurus with 1.5- and 2.0-liter EcoBoost gas engines and front-wheel drive. In the Middle East, the bigger engine is good for 239 horsepower and 282 pound feet (382 Newton-meters) of torque. Output is routed to the road exclusively through an eight-speed automatic transmission. A more economical FWD-only hybrid pairs a 1.5-liter with an electric motor and a continuously variable transmission (CVT).

At 194.3 inches (4935 millimeters) long and 73.8 inches (1875 millimeters) wide, it’s bigger than the previous-gen Mondeo/Fusion twins but still smaller than the last Taurus sold in America. It follows some of the latest trends by featuring split headlights, fake exhaust tips, pop-out door handles, and a simplified interior with few conventional buttons.

Ford has been selling this car since 2022, when it dropped the Mondeo from Europe without a replacement, ending a nearly 30-year lineage. The US-spec Fusion was retired back in 2020, a year after the Taurus died. Sedans are still popular in China, which is the main reason the car exists in the first place.

In early 2022, Ford ruled out bringing the new Mondeo to Europe, refusing to explain the reasoning behind the decision. Additionally, the car didn't make it to the US either, even though prototypes without any camouflage were caught testing in Michigan. CEO Jim Farley suggested in an interview last year that although cars like the Mondeo and Fiesta "were loved by a lot of customers,” the company wasn’t really making money on them.

Although Farley says Ford is “getting out of the boring-car business and into the iconic-vehicle business,” this sedan is sticking around for the time being. We won’t be too surprised if another model joins the lineup. Rumors of a Mustang-based sedan have been swirling around for years and were fueled last month by a "Mach 4" trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Ford’s head honcho has hinted at the prospects of a broader Mustang lineup, saying that “all kinds of possibilities” are on the table and that “there’s really no limit” to which car may wear the iconic pony symbol. We reckon a Mustang sedan would be much more expensive than the Mondeo/Fusion, which starts at just $21,000 and tops out at $32,000. Then again, cars built and sold in China are generally much cheaper than anywhere else.