Ford Mondeo luxury car mats

The new Ford Mondeo Vignale concept, a top-spec version of Ford's well-known family car with lots of premium features, is to enter production at the brand's special finishing centre in Valencia, Spain.

The Vignale badge will also be used in the future on high-specification Ford models and to signify that these cars will be available with bespoke design elements for the biggest spenders.

This Ford Mondeo Vignale (pronounced 'vin-ya-lay') has been revealed as a showcase of what to expect from Ford's new premium brand, and features numerous exterior and interior features that aren’t present on the other trim levels.

Exterior features include 20-inch alloy wheels, new Vignale badges, chrome door handles, a new grille, a redesigned front bumper and new foglights. The interior is the real focus of the Mondeo Vignale, however, and that includes quilted leather upholstery, luxury floor mats and leather on the dashboard and steering wheel.

The car also includes the Ford SYNC 2 system, which features smartphone integration and Wi-Fi connectivity, as well as LED headlights. Safety kit like Ford's hands-free Perpendicular Park system and traffic sign recognition come as standard too. Ford has also developed inflatable rear seatbelts, aimed to “disperse crash forces across a body area five times greater than that achieved by a conventional seatbelt”.

More than half of Ford's car sales in Europe are high-spec models and the introduction of a new, more expensive Vignale version for many of its models is part of a new strategy to compete with upmarket brands like BMW and Audi. The company suggests that people who aren't influenced by brand-snobbery will be drawn to their new luxury specification cars.