DETROIT — Ford Motor Co.'s global mid-sized car — the replacement for the U.S. Fusion — will be derived from the current European Mondeo.

"We're transitioning to a Fusion-Mondeo convergence," Derrick Kuzak, Ford group vice president of global product development, said at the Detroit auto show.

He confirmed that the Mondeo's EUCD platform will be the foundation for that global vehicle. Core development work for the global mid-sized, or CD-segment, car has been assigned to Ford of Europe engineers.

Ford executives previously said the company would develop a global mid-sized car but hadn't disclosed whether the new product would be derived from the U.S. Fusion or the European Mondeo.

But industry product analysts and suppliers had previously told Automotive News that the next-generation mid-sized cars would be based on an evolution of the European platform.

EUCD is newer than the CD3 platform. The CD3 underpins the U.S. Ford Fusion, its Mercury Milan and Lincoln MKZ siblings, and the Ford Edge and Lincoln MKX crossovers.

The CD3 platform is derived from the Mazda6 sedan. Late last year, Ford reduced its stake in Mazda from a controlling interest to 13 percent.

Ford CEO Alan Mulally "is demanding that they have just one global platform for each size," IHS Global Insight analyst John Wolkonowicz said. "As they're reducing their ties with Mazda, it makes sense to have their own."

Wolkonowicz noted that Kuzak led development of the EUCD platform when he oversaw product development in Europe. "It's one of his," said Wolkonowicz, who added that the global platform has been dubbed CD4 within Ford.

Ford executives won't say when the global mid-sized car will arrive in Europe or North America. But analysts and suppliers expect the next-generation U.S. Fusion to go on sale in 2012 for the 2013 model year.