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266 – Why hatchbacks are making a comeback

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6 August 2009

HATCHBACKS. It’s not hard to see why they are so popular. They can look smart; are becoming increasingly fuel-efficient (the all-new Ford Mondeo Econetic I’ve been testing is recording over 42mpg in traffic-choked conditions); and they are so practical, too.

Take this Ford Mondeo Econetic I’ve been testing: it was family transport and bike carrier to the Mazda London Trithlon at the weekend (see blog 265); and the other day it was transporter of surplus garden requirements to the dump for recycling.

Now, for some, the ritual of the dump-run is alien. Take the likeable Stephen Hollings, who was formerly head of corporate sales at Honda: “I’ve never understood this peculiarly British fascination with taking things to the dump,” Stephen once told me. “I’ve never been to the local dump – all my garden rubbish is composted at home.”

Now, Stephen might have been tall, but his brain always did operate at a cerebral level several feet above most of us – well, certainly me – and that might have been the case for Stephen. But, for most of us, I think the dump run is a common occurrence, despite the welcome introduction of a council garden waste collection service.

So, perhaps it’s no surprise that premium car makers, having once supplied only executive saloons, then opened up more practical considerations with sporting estate models (cunningly disguised as Touring and Avant derivatives), have now decided the time is right: the hatchback is, well, back. The humble five-door hatch is OK in premium car maker land.

BMW has launched its rather expensive GT model based on the 5 Series. And Audi is launching the rather more attainable Sportback – the latest version of the expanding A5 series. I’m looking forward to it.

The A5 Sportback goes on sale from October in Audi Centres with prices starting from £27,140 for the 2.0 TDI SE version. I’ll be driving it in September, so I’ll let you know whether it really is as “elegant as a coupe, as comfortable as a saloon, and as practical as an Avant” as the pr blurb would like to suggest.

One last note about the Mondeo. The interiors of these Fords really are getting so much better. The Mondeo’s is still not perfect: there’s the mix of different plastics that Audi would never entertain. But. And it’s an interesting ‘but’. I’ve noticed on this latest Mondeo that Ford has covered the A-pillar (that’s the slim windscreen post to the right of the driver, and left of the front passenger) with the same soft material as the headlining (apparently some Mondeos have have had this for a while).

An insignificant detail? I don’t think so. I believe anything that can be touched by the driver should be engineered beautifully or if it can be touched, reflect the quality of the cabin (for example, the fabulous tactile quality of the leather on my Audi A4’s steering wheel).

So it was when I first started driving Audis back in the eighties when I first joined What Car?. OK, the Audi was nowhere near as good to drive as a BMW, but Audi knew – as it still does – how to put together a plush, quality interior.

And one of the impressions that always stayed with me was the little attention to detail of the headlining covered A-pillar. It elevated the Audi cabin experience because it was something the driver could see and touch (if you felt so inclined). A masterstroke.

Sadly, Audi no longer does this. And I must confess, I miss it. But on the Mondeo it’s there. Well done Ford for that.

Ford Mondeo Econetic

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Ralph Morton

Ralph Morton

Ralph Morton is an award-winning journalist and the founder of Business Car Manager (now renamed Business Motoring). Ralph writes extensively about the car and van leasing industry as well as wider fleet and company car issues. A former editor of What Car?, Ralph is a vastly experienced writer and editor and has been writing about the automotive sector for over 35 years.

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