[Mondaveo]

I've always thought it was the switching on and off that causes (filament) bulbs to fail, as it stresses the filament... the bulbs will actually last longer left burning if it means you avoid a lot of switching. At least it seems that way anecdotally with household lights, that when they blow is invariably upon being switched (incandescent/halogen and also CFL - I'm happy my LED bulbs seem more robust).

If autolights is causing excessive switching on and off of the lights - particularly during cranking, say because you start the car in a garage - then that to my mind could be a contributor - not that I have hard proof.

I leave autolights off.

As for interior lights, I thought all Mondeos had a timer that turned them off (even if the switch position is on) after a short period? It does in mine (and the period seems much too short to me...).