Ford learned from its mistakes and, when it introduced the second generation of the Mondeo, it made it a lot better and kept the fastback-styling for it.
The carmaker changed the Mondeo lineup with a larger, more comfortable vehicle and offered it in three body shapes: four-door sedan, five-door hatchback, and station wagon. The sedan was considered a good all-around vehicle. Its wide range of options and features transformed it into the main weapon against the Volkswagen Passat, but eventually, the blue-oval brand had to admit that it lost the battle against the German rival.

On the outside, the Mondeo featured a mesh-grille at the front and triangular, swept-back headlights. A two-slats lower grille was installed in the lower bumper area. Depending on the trim selected, Ford placed fog lights in the front bumper. From its sides, the sloped tailgate offered a mixed view between a sedan and a station wagon, but it looked sportier even if it was just a regular, family-oriented vehicle.

Even though the Mondeo was considered the flagship for the European market, Ford didn’t try to make it look different. It featured a sound system with a cassette player and a simple radio function. The buttons’ design was rather bland. Later on, it included a CD player in the options list. Its rear 60/40 split-bench increased the trunk size from a respectable 500 liters (17.65 cu-ft) to an impressive 1,370 liters (48.4 cu-ft).

Ford installed a very wide choice of engines, both gasoline and diesel-powered. For selected versions, the carmaker offered an automatic transmission.