BETTER USED VALUE RETENTION than BMW 3 Series, Audi A4 and Volkswagen Passat has been forecast for the new Ford Mondeo by the independent car information experts, CAP Automotive.

CAP Gold Book – the independent authority on future used car value benchmarking for the automotive industry – also expects the new Mondeo to be worth £1,750 more, after three years, than the previous model was at three years old.

That’s the biggest uplift any version of the Mondeo has ever had over its predecessor.

But in the hotly-contested company car market what is most remarkable is the new Mondeo’s predicted used value lead over the current incarnations offered by its premium German rivals BMW, Audi and Volkswagen.

According to Gold Book a diesel Mondeo 2.0 TDCi ECOnetic Zetec will hold onto 42.7% of its new list price, after three years and 30,000 miles.  That compares with 38.3% for a diesel Audi A4 2.0 TDIe SE, 36.8% for a BMW 3 Series 318d SE and 41.6% for a Volkswagen Passat 2.0 TDI Bluemotion Tech Executive.

Ford maintains the predicted advantage at higher mileages too and the petrol version even stretches the lead over its German premium rivals.

At three years, with 60,000 miles on the clock, a petrol Mondeo 1.5 EcoBoost Zetec will be worth 36.1% of its new list price, beating an Audi A4 1.8T FSI 170 SE’s 31.4%, a BMW 320i SE’s 32.3% and a Volkswagen Passat 1.4 TSI 160 Executive’s 31.5%.

It’s a milestone in Ford’s design and engineering history, in a car sector which once saw the phrase ‘Mondeo Man’ coined as the definition of ordinary.

Dylan Setterfield, who heads the forecasting team at CAP, said: “The new Mondeo is anything but ordinary and its sheer good looks are a big contributor to such strong expected value retention as a used car in three years.

“It’s a winner inside too, with premium fit and finish, but the engineering underpinning the whole package is also excellent.  The old Mondeo was a fine drive and hard to improve on but the new version offers an even more comfortable experience.

“Ford’s EcoBoost and ECOnetic engines are even better in their new versions. Imagine being told five years ago that in 2014 a 1.5 litre petrol engine in a large family car would give you 160 bhp of poke and 50 mpg, but that is today’s reality.”

Setterfield stresses that an important contributor to CAP’s positive future view of the car is Ford’s stated plans not to oversupply the market.

He said: “As long as Ford stick to their guns and aren’t tempted to saturate the market with heavily discounted new cars, supply won’t outweigh the strong future demand we foresee for the new Mondeo as a used car.

“Most car-makers are building more cars than Europe really wants but Ford has taken some tough decisions around reducing capacity, with the closure of its Genk plant. It is Ford’s customers who will ultimately benefit from that.”

Setterfield also warns that Ford’s competitors will not accept being overtaken by the blue oval for long. Already the signs are that next year’s Volkswagen Passat could emerge as a best-in-class car. And new or facelifted versions of Audi A4 and BMW 3 Series next year will keep the sector hotly contested.

But, for now, Mondeo Man has the satisfaction of driving a car tipped by the UK’s leading independent car information experts to hold its value better than three legendary German brands renowned for low depreciation.”

How well will your car hold its value over time? Find out by visiting www.cap.co.uk/consumer

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