Ford's next Mondeo boasts radical look

The star of Ford's stand at the Frankfurt Motor Show will be the Evos concept car. At first glance you may think that it's a swoopy coupé, perhaps hinting at a modern day interpretation of the iconic Ford Capri. In fact, it previews the 2012 Ford Mondeo.

Yahoo! Cars attended an event in Berlin two weeks ahead of the concept's public debut to get up close and personal with Ford's new star. Contrary to appearances, the Evos boasts four large doors. In true concept car fashion they're of the extravagant gullwing variety and the design of the rear doors means they're, somewhat surprisingly, hidden from view.

Once open, the doors allow easy access to a conspicuously sporty cabin. Emphasising the sporting character of this car is a bright red driver's seat, plus instrumentation that wraps around the driving position.

Unsurprisingly, those instruments are distinctly sci-fi in appearance, if vaguely recognisable as evolutions of those found in Ford's current cars.

Ford Mondeo

While the concept car is powered by a plug-in petrol-electric hybrid powertrain, the big technology news is how the Evos interfaces with the driver's life. Much was made of how the concept car communicates with 'the cloud' to use the owner's personal information in a bid to make life easier.

One such example was the car setting your alarm a little later in the morning if it discovered that your planned meeting had been postponed. Perhaps more usefully the car will continue to play the music you were listening to at home before you left. It will also suggest more interesting driving routes if it reckons you're up to the task and you have the time.

Ford is dead serious about developing this level of interaction with its vehicles, though we don't expect the full suite of technologies to be ready for another 20 years or so.

You won't have to wait so long to see the stunning looks of the Evos on the road. Ford confirmed that a new global production car will be unveiled in January sharing the front end look with this concept. We predict it'll be a replacement for the Mondeo.