| Ford CDW27 platform | |
| Aka: | Ford 'World Car' platform (1993–2000) Ford CD162 (1996–2000, outside North America) Ford CD132 (2000–2009, outside North America) |
| Related: | Mazda GE platform |
| Manufacturer: | Ford Motor Company |
| Production: | 1993 - 2009 |
| Class: | Compact (C/D) platform |
| Predecessor: | Ford DE-1 platform Ford CD14 platform (Tempo/Topaz) |
| Successor: | Ford CD3 platform Ford EUCD platform |
The Ford CDW27 platform is a former automobile platform produced by Ford in worldwide markets from 1993 to 2007. Used for midsize cars, the CDW27 architecture was a "world car"[1] (co-designed by Ford and Mazda), becoming the second Ford world car (after the 1980 Ford Escort).
The CDW architecture was developed over six years, costing $6 billion at the time of its 1993 launch;[2] [3] the shared development saved approximately 25% over developing separate vehicles for Ford and Ford of Europe. The Global and the American versions were to have about 75 percent parts commonality.[4]
Derived from the Mazda GE platform (used by the Mazda Cronos/626 and the Mazda MX-6/Ford Probe), the platform replaced the DE-1 platform (Ford Sierra) and the CE14 platform (Ford Tempo/Mercury Topaz) under a single product range. First used for the 1993 Ford Mondeo,[5] North America began usage of the CDW27 for 1995 with the Ford Contour.
During the 2000s, the architecture was phased out in favor of two midsize platforms developed separately; the CD3 architecture (developed with Mazda) was used in North America and the EUCD architecture (shared with Volvo) was used by Ford of Europe.