No, it's not the new Mondeo, this is Ford's iosis concept car, which makes its public debut at next month's Frankfurt motor show. Like the Mercedes-Benz CLS, iosis is a four-door, four-seater coupé penned as a preview for Ford of Europe design boss Martin Smith's ideas for the future styling direction of European Fords.
Called 'kinetic', the new design language is an attempt to make blue oval offerings more 'dynamic and exciting', but the bluff nose of the iosis also offers a glimpse of how Ford is dealing with the problem of pedestrian impact regulations.
Behind carbon-fibre doors that pivot away from the body for easier entry, the cabin features a combination of classic leather and aluminium with more modern rubber compounds and neoprene. the skeletal driver's seat is fronted by a steering wheel machined from a billet of aluminium with the rally-style sequential gearshifter a handspan away.
Clever details include an LCD screen between the main instruments that doubles as a sat-nav display and a television output for the trio of rear-facing cameras that replace conventional mirrors. Instead of a traditional key, there is a push-button starter with docking ports in the centre console for memory sticks containing individual drivers' preferences.
Read about the iosis in detail in next week's magazine.
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