Hmmm, according to Wikipedia "The Mondeo was significant as its design and marketing was shared between Ford USA in Dearborn, and Ford of Europe.[3] Its codename while under development reflected thus: CDW27 signified that it straddled the C & D size classes and was a "World Car""

However, I believe that the design was conceived largely by Ford of Europe and nearly all of the components are European, with just a restyled front and rear. The difference in styling became even less significant after the 1998 model of the Contour.