At the time, I thought the Contour/Mondeo was a stand-out model among mid-size competitors... but few North Americans wanted it because we were all busy lusting after SUVs, and those that weren't were satisfied with Accords and Camrys. By today's domestic quality (mostly), the Contour is a failure, but in its day, it was actually a little known gem... Hmmm... sounds like a certain car in the title of this thread.

It seems the majority of winning cars by Ford are global designed (Focus, Fiesta, Fusion/Mondeo, c-Max). And before they killed the line, GM finally earned praise for Pontiac with it's Holden Zeta platform, Pontiac G8.

Which brings me to a question that has plagued me for years. Why have domestic car companies been so reluctant to sell world-car platforms designed outside the US? Pride? Consumer taste (or blinded perception of such)?

A BMW 5-series is a 5-series designed in Germany, and it sells very well world-wide, including the US. But then, VW sells the Jetta as a larger, frumpier, domestic-made car in the US, and now it sells better here than it did when it was the world-platform from Germany. Interesting to ponder what apparently is a complicated logistics and marketing game.