One of the biggest questions when trying to assess the new Mondeo is working out its role in the market.

With downsizing and the continued emergence of new niches, I feel like a key feature of the next few months will be figuring out what it does that Ford’s Focus, Grand C-max, Kuga or S-max wouldn’t do better, or whether it is, in fact, the all-rounder that can offer the best of its siblings but with fewer drawbacks.

The Mondeo is undoubtedly big and comfortable, as a first trip from Sussex to the Midlands illustrated recently, but when similar money can, on one hand, get you a more efficient and better-equipped Focus, or on the other, a bigger and more practical new S-max, or less money gets a more fashionable Kuga SUV, I wonder how long the Mondeo’s sector, let alone the actual car itself, can survive.

I’m hopeful the model can prove me wrong, and that this most traditional of company car segments will find its place in the niche-filled modern world. The next few months will be telling as to whether consumer choice and demand have left the Mondeo as a bit of an old-timer, no matter how cutting-edge the car itself turns out to be.