Is an excess of demand delaying the delivery of my new Ford Mondeo Estate from Drivethedeal?

I have ordered a new Ford Mondeo Estate 2.0TDCi through Drive the Deal, and all is fine, except for the delivery date. I placed the order in May and it was originally quoted as 16-22 weeks (taking it at worst to early October). Now that's slipped to December, so it's going to be over six months owing, I'm told, to availability of the engine. I have no reason to disbelieve this, but it does seem an inordinate delay. Am I right in thinking that the factors in this are the Japanese earthquake which has affected parts deliveries, and the car (or, more to the point, the engine) being fantastically popular, or is there anything else going on? I'm sticking with it for the time being - is that wise?

Asked on 15 September 2011 by TD, via email

Answered by Honest John
I asked Ford. There is a problem of excess demand over supply for the 2.0TDCI built at Dagenham, but shared with Peugeot and Citroen. It's worth noting that you may not need a diesel. I got 40mpg over 400 miles in the 1.6 Ecoboost 160 petrol.
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