New Car Review of the 2006 Mercury Montego Mid-Size Luxury Sedan

Description: Mid-Size Luxury Sedan
Base MSRP Range: Not Yet Available
Invoice Price Range: Not Yet Available
Where built: Hermosillo, Mexico

Models on the lot at Mercury from the Lincoln-Mercury Division of Ford Motor Company increase by three this year as the line initiates a new product offensive which will result in some six new vehicles for Mercury by 2007.

First to arrive is the Montego, a premium sedan that has the body of a mid-size model but the cabin of a big car with seats for five plus luxury gear and an enormous trunk with a capacity greater than most large sedans.

Montego shares DNA with Ford's Five Hundred sedan, as the architecture for both vehicles comes from Volvo, Sweden's automaker now under the corporate umbrella of Ford. The platform forges a stiff foundation for constructing a sedan with nimble and easy-to-handle driving characteristics.

Montego's stylish exterior package brings a bold face and high arching silhouette with a tall beltline and taut character lines honed from a blunted prow to the stubby tail. The stance is high for a sedan and on flanks the doors run deep to make entry and exit easy for riders. Also, seats in the cabin are elevated so passengers sit about four inches higher than in other sedans of comparable size.

Montego is configured for front-wheel-drive (FWD) or all-wheel-drive (AWD) traction, but all versions stock a Ford 3.0-liter aluminum V6 engine with a rating of 203 hp.

The vehicle will be built in the Ford plant in Hermosillo, Mexico.