Five years ago, Ford decided the time was right to develop a "world car" that would be designed and engineered on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean and sold in markets all around the globe.

Although the company had achieved only moderate success with this global strategy in the past, Ford was fairly sure that consumer tastes, safety standards and emissions regulations had become sufficiently similar across the board for the concept to finally take off.

The world-car benefits to the automobile manufacturer are multiple: reduced duplication of effort with regards to engineering, reduced manufacturing cost and even some simplification of marketing campaigns.

The benefit to U.S. consumers is a car with a European character, meaning it has exceptional handling, a plus for accident avoidance and driving pleasure.

Three cars have emerged from Ford's world-car decision. In Europe, the vehicle is called the Ford Mondeo, while the U.S. versions are known as the Ford Contour and Mercury Mystique.

The European Mondeo, introduced in March 1993, was voted 1994 European Car of the Year by an international panel of automotive writers, and more than a half-million orders have been placed since its introduction. Ford's ultimate plan is to sell 800,000 of these cars annually in 59 markets around the world.

Contour and Mystique models, assembled at Ford's Kansas City, Missouri, and Cuautitlan, Mexico, plants, made their showroom debut in September.