2015 Ford Mondeo Vignale 2.0 TDCi 210 Powershift, car review: Upmarket model aimed at BMW and Jaguar

But is it a hit or miss?

The compact executive sector is one where major manufacturers, many of them German, spend an inordinate amount of money and research to win the prize. This is the battleground that Ford is driving into with the Vignale, an upmarket Mondeo. Is this a battle it can win?

In many ways this is simply a standard Mondeo but with more luxurious appointments and some extra kit. The motifs on the exterior are fairly subtle but they’re there, notably that hexagonal grille and quite a lot of chrome. Behind that grille you can have a range of engines, including a 237bhp 2.0-litre turbodiesel with all-wheel drive that will probably prove popular. We’ve gone for the 207bhp 2.0-litre turbodiesel with front-wheel drive and an automatic transmission.

On the move it’s simply a Mondeo. That means it handles and rides well and the engine in this iteration provides reasonable get up and go. It’s not exactly scintillating, and that’s made a bit worse by the auto box which is a bit slow and then tends to overreact, changing down when you don’t want it to, and then holding the gear longer than you really need to with a torquey diesel behind it.

There’s a certain amount of diesel clatter getting into the cabin too, despite extra sound deadening and even sound-cancelling software. However, not much other noise gets through, so it’s a pleasant cabin to be in. You’re surrounded by a lot of hand-stitched leather, everywhere from dashboard to seats, but the upmarket feel of that is let down by some hard plastics below them.

The infotainment system is fine and there’s quite a lot of standard kit, like heated seats, DAB, Bluetooth, sat-nav and a decent Sony sound system. So it’s a Mondeo but more than a standard Mondeo. That makes it a better vehicle and, taken in isolation, a step up.

But Ford is hardly operating in isolation. When you look at the competition in this sector, especially cars like the new and immaculate Audi A4, you see just what giant leaps the opposition are taking forward. And with such a small price difference between that and the Mondeo Vignale, you’d be hard-pressed to come up with a convincing argument to choose the blue oval.