Editing Mercury Montego (section)

=== Design ===
The third-generation Montego used the [[Ford D3 platform]].  Developed in collaboration with Volvo, the D3 platform is the first full-size Ford platform to use front-wheel drive, with all-wheel drive as an option.  Shifting away from the body-on-frame Panther platform, the D3 chassis utilizes unibody construction.  Only two inches shorter than the Grand Marquis in wheelbase, the Montego was nearly 500 pounds lighter in curb weight.    

The Montego was equipped with a single engine, shared with the previous Taurus/Sable, a 203hp version of the 3.0L DOHC ''[[Ford Mondeo engine#VVT|Duratec]]'' V6.  Front-wheel drive versions were equipped with an [[AWTF-80 SC|Aisin]] 6-speed automatic; AWD versions were equipped with a [[Continuously variable transmission|CVT]] sourced from a [[Batavia Transmission|Ford/ZF joint venture]].

==== Total Vehicle Geometry (TVG) ====
The Montego, Five Hundred and Ford Freestyle were manufactured using a Volvo-derived system called Total Vehicle Geometry (TVG) to ensure fit, finish and craftsmanship &mdash; by requiring comprehensive participation by all engineers as well as suppliers and vendors.  Heavily using computer-aided design, TVG tracks all design modifications, translating them into the central CAD database which in turn allows each engineer access to current project data.  The system improves part tolerance at the body-in-white stage as well as early cabin integrity testing, via air leakage testing.  TVG improved fit and finish at the first prototype stage and decreases pilot manufacturing times.<ref name="montegointro" />  

For side impact protection the bodywork is braced at the B-pillar via an energy-channeling structural cross-car roof tube and a corresponding undercar energy channelling cross-tube &mdash; with the front seats mounted above the lower tube, locating them above a side impact energy path.  The system derives from a side-impact safety design marketed by Volvo as its [[Side Impact Protection System]] (SIPS).<ref name="montegointro">{{cite web
  | title = 2005 Mercury Montego Introduced
  | publisher = The Auto Channel, February 7, 2004
  | url = http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2004/02/07/179649.html}}</ref><ref name="Volvostruc2" />