While European consumers have to wait until early 2015 (!) for the new Mondeo, Ford will unveil the Mondeo Vignale study at the Frankfurt Motor Show , a car that signals the recycling of the former Italian coachbuilder’s name into an upscale sub-brand and which, instead of Ford's website, first appeared on the online edition of Autocar magazine.
Like Ghia, Vignale was a Turin-based coachbuilder that ended up in Ford’s collection of brands. Whereas Ghia was belittled by being transformed into a trim level for Ford’s European models, Vignale most recently appeared in 2004, when Ford revealed the Focus Vignale study that previewed the Focus Coupe Cabriolet . It also appeared on the 1993 Aston Martin Lagonda Vignale concept, during Ford’s ownership of the company.
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