The Ford Mondeo is a large family car sold by the Ford Motor Company in various markets throughout the world. The name "Mondeo" derives from the Latin word mundus, meaning "world". The initial generation of the Mondeo was developed as a "world car", along with North American models marketed as the Ford Contour and Mercury Mystique until 2000, and as the Ford Fusion from model year 2013 and on. The Mondeo was launched on 8 January 1993, and sales began on 22 March 1993. Available as a four-door saloon, a five-door hatchback, and a five-door estate, all models for the European market were... produced at Ford's plant in the Belgian city of Genk. The Sierra had been built there since its launch in 1982, although until 1989, right hand drive Sierras had also been built in UK at the Dagenham plant. Intended as a world car, it replaced the Ford Sierra in Europe, the Ford Telstar in a large portion of Asia and other markets, while the Ford Contour and Mercury Mystique replaced the Ford Tempo and Mercury Topaz in North America. Unlike the Sierra, the Mondeo is front-wheel drive in its most common form, with a rarer four-wheel drive version available on the Mk1 car only.
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