Photo: Dragos Savu
When the Volkswagen Passat B5 came around back in 1996, the Wolfsburg-based automaker caught every other D-segment sedan off guard for numerous reasons. The B5-gen showed the mid-size competition that you don't have to cut corners when offering a family-oriented sedan or station wagon.
Exterior design, standard equipment, materials, fit & finish, powertrain options, that era in Passat history truly started the Europeans' love for the nameplate. But with the all-new B8, the model started to creep into premium territory. This is why the recently launched 2015 Ford Mondeo enjoys somewhat of a B5 moment because it's good in many aspects.
Bear with me on this one. In its home country, the all-new Passat starts from €25,875 in its most basic format spec-wise and engine-wise. And if we're to be completely frank, you don't get too many frills for the money, but the peeps over at Volkswagen will happilly offer you a sea of fake buttons of optional features you couldn't afford to snag.
The 2015 Ford Mondeo also received a mild increase in price with the fourth gen, but not quite as the near-premium German contender. The €24,300 the base model commands is not exactly too much money for a car wearing the Blue Oval logo because you actually get a lot of equipment as standard.
But bare Mondeos are only bought by rental companies, while retail customers will look higher up the food chain, at better specced Titanium models, like the ones we tested in our review of the Mk V Ford Mondeo. It's not a car for everybody like the B5 Passat was, but it's extremely close to it.
We tested the TDCi sedan, EcoBoost wagon and Hybrid, finding out that each one has its own appeal. If you want a complete rundown of why the 2015 Ford Mondeo is so likeable, then head on over to our extensive review to find out why the Mondeo now fully deserves its world car label.
Bear with me on this one. In its home country, the all-new Passat starts from €25,875 in its most basic format spec-wise and engine-wise. And if we're to be completely frank, you don't get too many frills for the money, but the peeps over at Volkswagen will happilly offer you a sea of fake buttons of optional features you couldn't afford to snag.
The 2015 Ford Mondeo also received a mild increase in price with the fourth gen, but not quite as the near-premium German contender. The €24,300 the base model commands is not exactly too much money for a car wearing the Blue Oval logo because you actually get a lot of equipment as standard.
But bare Mondeos are only bought by rental companies, while retail customers will look higher up the food chain, at better specced Titanium models, like the ones we tested in our review of the Mk V Ford Mondeo. It's not a car for everybody like the B5 Passat was, but it's extremely close to it.
We tested the TDCi sedan, EcoBoost wagon and Hybrid, finding out that each one has its own appeal. If you want a complete rundown of why the 2015 Ford Mondeo is so likeable, then head on over to our extensive review to find out why the Mondeo now fully deserves its world car label.
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