Talking to Irish motoring journalists tonight in Sardinia at the international launch of the third generation of the brand's large car, Ford Ireland MD Eddie Murphy said he was excited about the new model and that he was convinced that it 'will fly'.
The new generation car, which had a cameo appearance in the recent James Bond movie 'Casino Royale', returns the nameplate to the 1.6 litre segment in Ireland, and Eddie Murphy expects that 45 percent of sales will be with this engine.
He also expects that some 7,500 units can be sold in 2008, the first full marketing year of the new car. "There is a strong pent-up demand for the car already," he said," driven in part by its appearance in 'Casino Royale' and by our own marketing and PR actions to date."
The new generation Mondeo is based on the same platform architecture as the New Galaxy and the S-MAX, and is being produced on the same assembly lines in Genk, Belgium.
On the general car market outlook for 2007, Eddie Murphy said he expects the outturn to be a 9 percent increase on last year, touching 195,000. BB.
