This is the car which Ford hopes will get sales of its large family car back on track.

The all-new Mondeo, Ford say, is an improvement over the old model in every way.

But it has to be.

Despite accounting for one in five large cars on the UK's roads, and making an appearance in lists of the top ten selling cars since 1993, Ford is having increasing trouble selling new ones.

The company is confident the all-new Mondeo, which will go on sale at the end of June will stop the rot.

First impressions are good.

The styling takes the new car above its able but ordinary past and onto a whole new level where it'll compete with the most desirable cars in its class.

Its front end has a Germanic feel, and a hint of both Aston Martin and Jaguar thrown in for good measure.

The headlights which sweep back along the wings and recesses in the bonnet evoke images of the new Jag XK.

Recent Fords have worn a corporate front end, which had angular lights and bold grilles to show them as part of one big family. But the new Mondeo bears a resemblance to other models only at the rear, with S-Max-like rear lights

The 5-door hatchback, along with the 4-door saloon which we drove have long, almost semi-circular rear lights which we felt looked slightly awkward. But with the Mondeo set to become a ubiquitous sight on the UK's roads, we'll warm to them.

More like an Audi than a Ford

We tested a luxurious Ghia X model and the sportier Titanium X range topper; both of which wore a set of alloy wheels, which emphasised the 'premium feel' further.

This sense of quality and exclusivity is carried into the cabin, which feels more like an Audi or BMW than a Ford.

The Titanium X we tried was festooned with silver trim around the dashboard, although shinier silver inserts in the steering wheel looked a little low-rent.

Silver not to your taste? The Ghia X has these panels replaced by 'wood-effect' bits, which although not unpleasant, stretch the description a little too far.

Our Titanium test car featured a colour display between the rev counter and speedo, which performed various functions, including operating a mobile phone, resetting the trip information and monitoring which track is on the CD player.

Ford calls this the Human Machine Interface, which also includes voice activated commands, and proved to be effective, if initially very complex.

This was replaced by a more conventional LCD readout on the Ghia model.

On both models we tested, the Mondeo had very supportive seats, which on these high-spec models moved electrically. While the Titanium featured half leather, half suede-like upholstery, the Ghia had light brown 'biscuit' leather, with matching carpets. Very classy, if a little hard to keep clean.

Both front and rear passengers are served by a huge amount of room in front, above and to the sides. Even with a six-footer in the driving seat, there's a still lot of space for the rear seated occupants' legs.

The estate version we tried has 554 litres of boot space, but perhaps more impressively, the five-door hatchback only gives away 14 litres to its big-booted brother.

But then it should be – it’s as big as the old Ford Scorpio. And that was huge.

On the move, the Mondeo is a very comfortable companion, with minimal wind and road noise even over the broken tarmac on our Sardinian test route.

Polished performer

The traditional forte of the Mondeo is to be an accomplished motorway performer, although it has rarely been described as an involving drivers' car. This has changed with the new model which feels equally at home on the twisting and challenging switchbacks as it does on a long motorway blast.

Our Titanium-spec test car came with Ford's new Interactive Vehicle Dynamics Control (IVDC) with Continuously Controlled Damping (CCD).

The former provides three dash-mounted buttons, with which the driver can select from Comfort, Normal or Sport modes, depending on his or her mood or driving conditions.

Comfort softens the suspension, allowing it to waft over humps, while Sport stiffens the set-up for a more involving drive. Normal puts it back into its normal – and very well rounded – state.

CCD is the mechanical bit which adjusts the suspension every 0.2 seconds for the most suitable ride, and works pretty well.

However, the Ghia model we tested afterwards still handled superbly without this £650 option.

We tried two engine configurations. The 2-litre TDCi engine is likely to be one of the most popular choices, and was superbly refined.

Ford has worked hard to reduce levels of noise, vibration and harshness – NVH, as its known – and it shows. Pushed hard, the engine can be heard in the cabin, but under normal driving conditions, it's very quiet. Almost like a petrol engine, in fact.

That's something which is carried over in the performance. Most diesels ride on a wave of torque – or pulling power – between around 2,000-3,000rpm, with very little oomph as the engine speed increases.

The 140bhp 2-litre TDCi fitted here still has the bulk of its torque at low engine speeds, but the surge then recession of power has been ironed out. This means the 9.5 second 0-62mph time feels far longer.

But that's no criticism, because it suits the new Mondeo's refined persona. And it returns more than 47mpg, which is impressive.

We also sampled the 2.5-litre turbocharged petrol unit. We've tried this engine before in the Focus ST and the Volvo C70 where it has very different characteristics.

In the Focus it's loud, eager and muscular, but in the Volvo and Mondeo it's more of a cruiser, with bags of torque meaning it can be left in third gear for most of the time.

Other engine options include 1.6 and 2.0-litre petrol units, and a slightly less powerful 130bhp 2-litre diesel powerplant. These will be joined by a 2.3-litre petrol and a 2-litre bio-ethanol powered FFV version soon after launch.

No more fuelling mishaps

With such a range of engines, it seems fitting Ford should choose the Mondeo as the first car to have a system to prevent drivers filling up with the wrong kind of fuel.

A sealed fuel filler cap replaces a conventional screw-on cap so no more getting petrol on your hands, and the filler neck has a gadget which can recognise whether the nozzle is supplying petrol or diesel and prevent incorrect filling. Amazingly almost 300,000 people a year fall foul of this.

Elsewhere, the Mondeo has an impressive level of equipment. All models get air-con, cruise control, a CD player with an input for an MP3 player, a heated windscreen, electric and heated mirrors. Other highlights as standard on more expensive models include 16 or 17-inch alloys (18-inch if the Sport pack is specified), a six-CD autochanger and a Ford Power start button for the Titanium X model.

Although the Mondeo hasn't been rated in the EuroNCAP crash test programme, it's expected to achieve a full five stars. Skid-preventing Electronic Stability Programme is standard on all models, as is a collapsible steering column which pulls the wheel away from the driver in a collision.

All of this adds up to an excellent package. It's not without its faults, however.

Our left-hand drive test car had its pedals offset to the right, and the windscreen pillars are too thick, meaning we had to crane our necks to see around them. This is nitpicking, of course, because the new Mondeo is an excellent car in virtually every other area.

But has Ford achieved its objective of turning the Mondeo into a rival for the best in its class?

Without a doubt – it’s the best car Ford has produced for a decade.

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