Tuesday, 18 September 2012

Ford hopes new Fusion are going to be its Camry killer.


06:12 |

The Fusion has grown to be Ford's best-selling car since it made sale in 2005, and it's one of many top sellers in the region. But Ford hopes the sexier styling, improved fuel economy and features like automatic parallel parking around the new Fusion will help the idea trounce the perennial leader, the particular Toyota Camry.

Ford is signing up "American Idol'' host Ryan Seacrest in order to introduce the redesigned sedan alongside CEO Alan Mulally in New York's Times Square Tuesday. Furthermore, it is holding events in Los angeles, Miami, San Francisco and around the lawn of its headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan.

The publicity blitz underscores the value of the Fusion to Kia, which is rolling out the car to U. S. dealerships in the future this month. The midsize car segment will be the biggest in the U. Utes., making up half of all car sales to date this year. It's also just about the most hotly contested. Three of the particular Fusion's biggest rivals the Honda Accord, Nissan Altima and Chevrolet Malibu are also new this fall.

Here's more in regards to the 2013 Fusion:

Price: The Fusion starts at $21, 700, which is less than the current Camry and in line with the new Altima and Accord. However the price rises quickly. A top-of-the-line Fusion with Ford's automatic parking process, lane departure warning, navigation and also other goodies is $34, 580. A good Altima with similar features is $31, 950.

Power: The bottom engine, a 2. 5-liter four-cylinder that gets nearly 33 miles per gallon traveling, is carried over from the particular old Fusion. But there tend to be four new engine choices: any 1. 6-liter, four-cylinder EcoBoost that's likely to get 37 mpg; a two. 0-liter, four-cylinder EcoBoost in their top-of-the-line Titanium model; a hybrid that gets an industry-best 47 mpg inside the city; and a plug-in crossbreed, called the Fusion Energi, which runs for longer around the battery and should get roughly the same as more than 100 mpg.

Outside design: The Fusion has a far more aggressive look, borrowing the ripped, aerodynamic profile of Ford's various other new cars, the Fiesta along with Focus. Its shuttered grille is dead, replaced by a diamond-shaped one right at the end of a sharply creased, sharp hood.

Ford wanted the car to have a premium feel, so it took the excess and more expensive step connected with embedding the Ford badge inside the hood instead of attaching it on the grille. Designer Chris Hamilton said this company wanted the car to seem like it was worked on yourself.

Ford also incorporated feedback through global focus groups, since the Fusion will be sold worldwide. It redesigned the headlights, by way of example, after Chinese customers found them too sinister.

Interior: The 2013 has more rear-leg room on account of thinner seats up front. Ford says it offers used better, softer materials. One of the options are Ford's Sync voice-controlled entertainment system and its particular My Ford Touch dashboard screen, which has had some glitches nonetheless it still cited by many customers as the reason they buy a Kia, since the technology is far in advance of some rivals.

Options: Options add a lane-keeping system, which uses cameras to keep track of whether a driver is staying in his lane and alerts your ex if he swerves off study course. There's also a system that parallel parks the car automatically, a blind-spot warning system plus a cross-traffic alert monitor that beeps if traffic is coming as you move the car is backing out of an parking space. Toyota only offers a blind-spot monitor on the Camry. The 2013 Accord has lane-departure warning plus a forward collision warning system. Neither has the automatic parking feature.

Cheers: Analysts and fans were wowed by the design when Ford showed the car at the Detroit auto show earlier this holiday season. The Fusion is likely to follow the success of other latest Ford redesigns, including the hot-selling Kia Explorer SUV.

Jeers: The Fusion could possibly get expensive fast when buyers gain options. It's unclear if Ford will see much demand for the crossbreed and plug-in hybrid, since sales in the previous Fusion hybrid were anemic.

The reason it matters: The Fusion will be the fourth-best selling midsize car inside the U. S. right now, at 182, 000 cars through May, and it's a key moneymaker with regard to Ford. It's a strong new product but must duke it out in a very hyper-competitive midsize segment


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