SO there’s more to the Mondeo Vignale than some fancy paint and trim – in fact it’s a Ford perfectly tailored to the SME market.
Why and how? – these were the questions that sprang to mind, when we caught up with Mondeo Vignale Product Manager, Paul Baines, to see why a high-end Mondeo will be so relevant to small business customers.
“The SME market is where we think the Vignale trim will have the most relevance. We’ve seen many buyers go to the premium end of the market, but of course those customers still have a fixed amount of money that they want to go to.
“They are not so concerned about the taxation, because the money is not in their pocket and that’s where we see Vignale appealing to those customers.
If we can be somewhere around £300 per month, then it’s really an outstanding proposition
If you’ve got a set amount of money, say £300 as your budget, there’s quite a lot of choice out there. Some customers short cut their choice by upping their budget to £1,000 and step into premium.
“However, as we’ve said, if you go that way, you don’t always get the equipment and luxury. It might be a premium brand, but it’s not always a premium experience as it will take more cash to get up to the spec you were hoping for.
“So, I think with Vignale, because of the sales distribution, the fact we’re not going to be doing huge volumes, no daily rental, plus selling to net fleet and retail only, means that the RVs will be healthy enough and hopefully ahead of the main car in percentage terms and get attractive lease rates.
“If we can be somewhere around £300 per month, then it’s really an outstanding proposition for those people who do want luxury in a car that you can do miles in everyday. The Mondeo Vignale is a comfortable and luxurious place to be, especially considering your bang for your buck.
“We think the 180PS diesel will make up 80% of the mix and of that, more thanhalf will be manual. In fact, the 180PS diesel with manual transmission will be the sweet spot of the range, accounting for 50% of Mondeo Vignale sales.
