newsflash

Starting on April 23, a total of about 1,000 international journalists, including TV crews, photographers and 38 Car of the Year jury members, from 36 countries attended the Mondeo media drive event on the Costa Smeralda, a picturesque area of Northern Sardinia. Journalists from China, Taiwan and New Zealand also joined the five-week product launch, underlining the ever-growing global media interest in European Ford products.

On arrival at Olbia airport, the journalists were invited to choose from three body styles, three versions (Trend, Ghia X and Titanium X) and two different engines (2.0 TDCi and 2.5 PFI) for their test drives on 180 kilometers of winding Sardinian roads.

After checking in to the Hotel Romazzino, the media guests were taken to the Conference Centre of Porto Cervo for a presentation on the technology of the new model. A cutaway bodyshell helped illustrate the safety features of the new car and a 'rolling chassis' displayed the car's powertrain and suspension. Video clips explained the operation of some of the advanced features such as Adaptive Cruise Control and also showed how laser brazing in the Genk plant helped give the Mondeo premium car quality. Lively discussions continued back at the hotel where representatives from Product Development and Design joined the groups for dinner.

The next morning, the journalists hit the roads again for another 200 challenging but beautiful kilometers on this lovely Mediterranean island. Lunch and another opportunity to quiz the engineers responsible for developing the car was followed by a short coach transfer back to the airport for flights home.

Behind the scenes, a major operation supported the smooth running of the event, based in two 30m x 20m tents. A team of twelve fitters from Ford's Cologne plant, helped by three senior engineers, kept the cars in top condition, and a further team of 18 cleaning staff from AutoKleen ensured that the fleet of test cars always looked like they had been driven straight out the showroom. With 62 test cars and 30 other

BEISSBARTH SMOOTHES MONDEO LAUNCH
Starting on April 23, a total of about 1,000 international journalists, including TV crews, photographers and 38 Car of the Year jury members, from 36 countries attended the Mondeo media drive event on the Costa Smeralda, a picturesque area of Northern Sardinia. Journalists from China, Taiwan and New Zealand also joined the five-week product launch, underlining the ever-growing global media interest in European Ford products. On arrival at Olbia airport, the journalists were invited to choose from three body styles, three versions (Trend, Ghia X and Titanium X) and two different engines (2.0 TDCi and 2.5 PFI) for their test drives on 180 kilometers of winding Sardinian roads. After checking in to the Hotel Romazzino, the media guests were taken to the Conference Centre of Porto Cervo for a presentation on the technology of the new model. A cutaway bodyshell helped illustrate the safety features of the new car and a 'rolling chassis' displayed the car's powertrain and suspension. Video clips explained the operation of some of the advanced features such as Adaptive Cruise Control and also showed how laser brazing in the Genk plant helped give the Mondeo premium car quality. Lively discussions continued back at the hotel where representatives from Product Development and Design joined the groups for dinner. The next morning, the journalists hit the roads again for another 200 challenging but beautiful kilometers on this lovely Mediterranean island. Lunch and another opportunity to quiz the engineers responsible for developing the car was followed by a short coach transfer back to the airport for flights home. Behind the scenes, a major operation supported the smooth running of the event, based in two 30m x 20m tents. A team of twelve fitters from Ford's Cologne plant, helped by three senior engineers, kept the cars in top condition, and a further team of 18 cleaning staff from AutoKleen ensured that the fleet of test cars always looked like they had been driven straight out the showroom. With 62 test cars and 30 other	An MS 50 Technoroller tyre changer and a Microtec 835A wheel balancer loaned by Beissbarth and installed on site by Beissbarth's Chris Whittaker made light work of the task.
	support vehicles in daily use, most covering 380 km each day in the hands of enthusiastic journalists, tyre changing was an important part of their work. When the decision was made to change some of the fleet from 17" to 18" wheels overnight, the reliable and easy-to-use equipment became invaluable. During the whole event, over 450 tyres were changed with nothing but praise for the Beissbarth machines. The press event was a tremendous success and the coverage has been excellent : "In a single bound of bold design and engineering excellence, the new Mondeo sets new standards" (The Times) "An absolute winner from Ford, shaming rivals costing twice as much" (The Telegraph) and "To drive, the new Mondeo is truly, ground-breakingly, class leadingly terrific….It's not often we can be so unequivocally enthusiastic about a new car" (The Independent).
Beissbarth UK Freephone Helpline 0800 1694660

BEISSBARTH SMOOTHES MONDEO LAUNCH