2010 Ford S-Max facelift spied

By George Skentzos | July 06th, 2009

The facelifted version of Ford’s S-Max people carrier has been spied undergoing tests in the Swiss mountains.

Due to make its first public debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September this year, the restyled S-Max will boast an even more dynamic exterior to well and truly shed the dreary family car stereotype.

The most obvious design change is at the rear where the tail lights have been completely reshaped and equipped with LEDs.

While at the front the new S-Max will receive a similarly radical overhaul, aimed at reapplying Ford’s kinetic design traits.

As only a mid-life refresh, the interior and engine line-up are expected to remain untouched.

http://carz.com/ Carz

Ford S-max looks promising. This might increase sales of Ford. I’m keeping my options open for this car.
Jake02

Ford Aus HAVE to bring this car here. They said they’re not gonna before but since the Mondeo sells well I’d think they’d at least have a look at this, the worlds only sporty MPV. A better alternative to the RWD Territory, and it drives even better apparently. Price it starting at around 37-40k for the base, upto the top for around 46-49k and I think you’ll find Scenic/C4 Picasso buyers right there.

A 2.5T Titanium with the bodykit and 20″ accessory wheels please.
jon

EWWWW this car so ugly.
Pablo

Great news if you live in Europe – pretty useless information otherwise
phillip

Ford Aus are unlikely to bring the S-Max here as it would eat into Territory sales. It’s a pity though: although it still looks a bit MPV-like for my tastes, it’s meant to be the most entertaining-to-drive 7 seater available.
Jimmy Bar

They’ve been playing so much catch-up with the Citroen C4 Picasso that the S-Max is now looking like a close cousin from the front.

It doesn’t make much sense for Ford AU to bring it here given the small market size and the tendency for buyers in this market to go with the cheap & cheerful Kia Carnival.

Neither the Picasso, nor the scenic have sold in large numbers despite being great cars. Then there’s the hideous looking Peugeot 308 Estate, but Aussie buyers seem to prefer the bland, not the beautiful or unique.

The range of ugly SUV’s like the Klugger, Landcrusher, Terrytowelling, Discothuggery, Forrestart, Prada, Pajero etc. represent more metal for your money thanks to the government’s 5% tax discount for being “Commercial Vehicles”.

Australian’s are just too conservative and if they decide they don’t want an Urban Assault Vehicle, then it’s just safer to to buy a boring and ugly Honda Odditty.

Ford AU needn’t bother, Australia through it’s conservative buying habits, has shown that we don’t deserve anything new, innovative, or stylish.
Yanzo

facelift..? still looks hella ugly. hahahaha
http://deleted Alex

Jimmy Bar wrote “The range of ugly SUV’s like the Klugger, Landcrusher, Terrytowelling, Discothuggery, Forrestart, Prada, Pajero etc. represent more metal for your money thanks to the government’s 5% tax discount for being “Commercial Vehicles”.”

Now, I don’t mean to sound insulting, but what is the point in substituting the names of cars if you can’t even think up one clever one?

The S-Max is a wonderful car. Say what you want about the looks but it’s great fun to drive and yes, considerably better than the Territory (in 2.5T guise anyway). I wouldn’t hold your breath if you’re expecting it to come to Australia but I suppose that European families are lucky at least. They should bring more cars like this to Australia. As far as I can see, they do sell well when the marketing is right. Market it as a stylish-urban-practical-economical-family wagon, they’ll be everywhere. Market it as another new model from Ford (as they always tend to do) then no, people will not bother and they’ll go straight to a Honda showroom.
http://www.hsryat.com www.hsryat.com

hi
Jake02

Thought:
Replace Falcon wagon with this (and not Market the Mondeo wagon as that) and it makes at least some sense. 7-seats but not cramped, very practical, very good looking, economical (it’s from Europe – duhhh) and with great handlnyoneI reckon that anyone would have it over the stupidly old Falcon wagon and also the Mondeo wagon (that doesn’t even come in an XR5 Turbo form when it’s released next month).
Tom

Jake02, the Mondeo wagon will be released with the 2.5T, 2L diesel and the 2.3 petrol. The relaunched mondeo range will also introduce the Titanium spec to all models, so you can buy a Mondeo with the current XR5 specs with the other engines.
Frontman

Sorry Tom but MB Mondeo is comming as Hatch in LX, Zetec, Titanium & XR5(petrol only) in either Petrol or Diesel. Wagon is In LX & Zetec Petrol only….. No Titanium or XR5 wagon.
Jake02

Tom:
Go to the Ford Australia website and you’ll see that the only engine available on the Aus spec Mondeo wagon is the 2.3L 4 cyl with the 6-speed auto. It will only be available in LX and Zetec models.

I’m glad they got rid of the ugly sedan, but I would like to see an XR5 Wagon. The Titanium doesn’t seem to be much of bad thing, kind of a premium Zetec as such.
Motorhead

It’s a shame Ford don’t bring it down here, the only real contender in it’s class is the Odyssey.
Skybreak

While I can see some resemblance to the Focus, I think this one ugly car, even for a people mover. I suspect it would have to get some pretty rave reviews about its price and driving dynamics to sell in numbers here.

On the other hand if Ford is considering new models here how about bringing the Kuga to replace the aging Escape?
I think the Kuga is a pretty good looking car and should do well in the RAV4/CRV segment.
Skybreak

Jake02,
Ford isn’t going to get rid of the Falcon wagon. Commercial buyers, Telstra in particular, buy enough of them to keep them going. Also, Holden gave away that market segment to Ford when the Commodore wagon became the sports-wagon.
If Ford wants to appeal to private buyers than yes, the Mondeo wagon is their way to do it.
Tom

http://www.goauto.com.au/mellor/mellor.nsf/story2/FA3F5AFA8C762345CA2575DA001D7271

Don’t believe the Ford website, its always out of date, the Mondeo wagon part of the site is just for getting expressions of interest.

Personally the Tdci wagon would be the pick of the crop.
Shak

I actually like this car. But did anyone notice the rear axle seems to have a helluva lot of weight on it. How much can they have in that trailer, or do they have really heavy kids in the back seats that we cant see ? Anyway the car takes the Mondeo rear lights i think and the front looks really confused.
DesignEng©™

Shak,
I suspect that the trailer is being used as a test bed and is quite heavy (dual axle and brakes).
The S-Max can tow up to 1800 kg, which I think is pretty competative for it’s class.
BTW the IRS is a “Control Blade” system similar to Falcon,
and S-Max also has a 30mm lower suspension option.
Frontman

Tom my info is direct from ford pricing bulletin and R J Pound price card handed to me this morning:-)
adam (aka mada)

Yes the mondeo wagon will be sold here, Frontman is correct.
Frontman

Shak the cues to Mondeo are no accident, they both run EUCD platform. Same platform as Volvo’s S80, V70 and XC60 so handling wise it’ll be right up there. They are a very well respected little jigger in Europe and the UK. A people moover that can actually go around corners.
Phill

Didn’t the S-Max win a car of the year award in Britain???
Hjalle

Australian cars are so boring, we need to bring European cars out here. Personally coming from Europe we have a pretty high standard when it comes to cars and the cars one sale in AU at the moment arent really up to it. Ford bring on the S Max!

I also find that the cars in Europe are nicer, we have alot more Estates/ Wagons than SUV’s. Aussie buyers should take a look at the Euro market and learn from it!

swannnyy

Unfortunately, too many Aussie drivers bought into the “bigger is better” school of thought and loooove their gas-guzzling SUVs. We went the same way as the Americans, rather than the Europeans, which is really bad news. Yanks go with dinosaur engineering (want to go fatser? Get a bigger engine), the Europeans go smarter (want to go faster? Build better engineering, better gearboxes, better handling systems, better …)

Ford Aus will never bring in the S-Max, becasue of the local jobs that would go, and I don’t think Ford Europe would allow produciton of the S-Max to go offshore to us (even if we only made right-hand steer vehicles). We’ll just have to suffer with the second-rate cars they decide to sell here!

Scott

This is a great car that should be sold in this country.

Hjalle is on drugs.
Car Fanatic

In all honesty,those photos don’t do the S Max Justice. In the flesh or metal to coin the correct phrase, it is a better looking vehicle and they drive nicely.

First hand experience from Car Rental in the UK.
Mato

Can anyone compare s-max and new grand scenic? Driving? Quality? Thanks.
Red Thunder

Just drove an S-Max around Provence, France. Fantastic car. Bring it here, Ford!
Chappers

I’m so reluctant to leave our s-max in the UK when we move to Australia that I’m considering taking it with us. Best car for a family by far. No idea how we’d get it serviced but as it’s basically a mondeo perhaps there is a chance of ford in Australia being able to work on it? 2.2 TD 2010 before the facelift.