The interior design was influenced by SUVs. The beefy steering wheel looks like it came from a Mercury truck, with more buttons than ever for added convenience, easier control over the cruise control, and more audio functions. Other SUV design cues include the overhead console, a big brow over the instruments. All the graphics are large, white on black, and very easy to read.

The Montego comes in three interior colors, two-tone grey, two-tone tan, and black. There's enough brushed aluminum trim to tell you you're in a Mercury product. The Luxury model comes with a straight-grain wood trim, while the Premium gets burled wood trim.

A large, oval-shaped clock is the central feature of the instrument panel, which is dark on top and light on the bottom, just as the seats are dark on the outside and light on the inside (unless you opt for the all-black interior). The instruments are easy to read and the controls are easy and quick to use.

The driving position in the new Montego dictates that it feels more like an SUV than a car, nice and high up, with wonderful outward vision. The seats sit up about four inches higher than the seats in a Sable sedan, and they are bit of a design throwback, with big outside segments and simple transverse segments. But they are also large, plush and a good deal more supportive than Sable seats. The rear seats are set up higher still so that rear-seat passengers can see out without craning.