New Mondeo 'will boost petrol engines'

5-door and wagon versions of New Mondeo

The arrival of the new Ford Mondeo next month to Ireland will provide an opportunity for buyers to get back into petrol powered cars where it suits their driving needs, according to Ford Ireland's Chairman and MD Eddie Murphy, writes Trish Whelan.

Speaking at the car's International launch in Malaga this week, he said that the segment currently is almost 100 percent diesel in Ireland but the new car will be available with highly-efficient 1.5 and 1.0 EcoBoost turbocharged petrol engines offering fuel consumption that challenges diesels.

He said that over time, the new Mondeo sales could reach up to 15 percent petrol units as drivers get to know the quality of these engines.

Eddie Murphy said launching this particular car into the market in 2015 is a really exciting time. "The market is on the up to 93,000 so far this year and it will go to 97-98,000. After six lousy years of recession, it is certainly a big deal and we're forecasting 110,000 cars and 18,000 commercial sales."

He welcomed the Budget 2015 which provided no increases in motor related taxes. "We had made a submission to the Government to leave well alone as there was no necessity to dabble in something that wasn't broken or didn't need fixing."

The two year delay in launching Ford's New Mondeo was due to the company's decision to close one plant and move production to its production facility in Valencia in Spain.

Eddie Murphy of Ford Ireland with New Mondeo