The new Ford Mondeo was very well received when it was released last year (see our reviews here and here). Our road tester hailed it as the best car in its class and “the best car Ford has produced for a decade”.
But now its rivals have the Mondeo in their sights and we’ve just driven the latest, the new Honda Accord.
The Renault Laguna and Citroen C5 have also been updated recently and, like Honda, Renault has followed Ford’s lead of paying more attention to improving the quality of the interior, to tempt buyers away from the BMW 3 Series and Mercedes C Class.
The next car to try this approach is the Vauxhall Insignia (formerly the Vectra).
Do you own any of these cars – or are thinking of buying one? Which is the best family saloon car?
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I was waiting for Vauxhall to improve on the looks of the 07 Vectra and have to say they have done a brilliant job, although not quite a 3 Series (that’s a car you can’t keep up with), but getting there. However it has beaten the C-Class on it’s looks – Sorry Germans, but gotta speak the truth.
As for the interior, I’ve not checked it out yet, but God I hope it’s a bit less cramped than the previous Vectra!
As for head on head with the Mondeo, that is a diffcult one indeed, Ford got there first but then vauxhall managed to catch up, maybe I should just cast lots.
But nice try both Vauxhall and Ford, cos at the end of the day, I know what I like and thats a BMW 3-Series!!!
Keep on trying!!!
I m sorry but why is vauxhall and ford being mentioned in the same sentence as bmw or mercedes? you would seriously need your head looking at if you brought one of those over a bmw or merc!
I’ve been running the latest Vectra for the last 2 years and 60k miles – for me it does exactly what I need (that is need, rather than want) from a car:
Cheap to run (£160 pa servicing)
Over 30mpg (petrol auto and a lead-foot)
Seats five and all their luggage, or will carry four bikes, a roof box, four bikers and enough stuff for four bikers
Cheap on tax (company car)
Quiet, good stereo
Good enough handling, and very good at high-speed cruising, even in winds
And more importantly, has never let me down
And I’m due a new car, so will either take another Vectra as a company car, or a nearly new one as a private car.
the vauxhall has been playing catch up with ford for years now and it looks like they will be doing it for a long time to come ? yes the new insignia looks good but looks aren’t everything . keep trying vauxhall .
Being a Vectra owner I have been waiting to see what the replacement will offer and have to say first impressions are excellent. The Insignia certainly has the looks – better than the new Mondeo – but will it’s interior live up to Vauxhall’s hype? The Vectra has acres of plastic and one of the most uninspiring dashboards in it’s class of vehicle. Also, let’s hope they have got the chassis right this time – the Vectra, while an excellent motorway cruiser, just doesn’t feel ‘safe’ on roads with twists and bends. Vauxhall have got the styling right so if they get the interior and drive to the correct standards then perhaps Ford should watch their backs!!!! I shall look forward to the test drive.
I suppose the new Vauxhall looks OK… not quite as out of proportion as the new Mondeo anyway. If I wanted a front drive saloon as my next car I’d choose a Mazda6 or S60, however I’d much prefer to go with RWD which leads me to an IS or 3 Series.
Nothing new or original there, then.
No way will this beat or even match the mondeo. The mondeo is the best new car on the market right now and vauxhall, despite changing it, still suffer from the stigma attached to the vauxhall badge. Shame as I bet this is a great car and a huge improvement on the vectra.
what would you pick out of the 2? most of us will go for looks, and i have to say by a mile the new Insignia has the looks, park it next to a BMW and it would be hard to see which is the BMW, sorry to the mondeo owners but its such a ugly car!! ill save my money for the vux Insignia
Once again Vauxhall/Opel/GM come up with fighting eloquence to promote a new model which seems well enough designed to transform that eloquence into sales. That’s what they did with the various Cavalier generations and tweaks, and with the various Vectra generations and tweaks. But those models of the past never left forecourts quickly enough, leaving fleet sales to recoup the costs of design and development, and of the more and more expensive production tooling.
It’s not fair to judge the Insignia on the commercial success of its forebears, but that’s what people do. Ask Honda, where the top brass must spend more time scratching their heads than running the company. Their technology is at the very point of car engineering, their design more and more daring, but the public still judge Honda on the past: Honda for the pipe-and-slippers brigade. “Mondeo man” has little time for Honda.
So, the Insignia is going to have to be excellent, and twice: once to defeat the inertia of Vauxhall/Opel’s past, then the second time to sell cars today and.in the immediate future. Very tough, particularly in the very uncertain world economy we have slid into. GM Europe need this car to win, even if it’s only for the sake of their employees.
By the way, it’s very surprising that the name “Insignia” was still available for a car. (Look at Peugeot’s problems with the James Bond-ish, not, 1007.) Someone somewhere in GM had their eyes on the ball to spot that one.