Ford Fusion wins MotorTrend COTY

Chilliman · 18-11-2009, 09:30 PM

http://www.motortrend.com/oftheyear/...ion/index.html

**russellw** · 19-11-2009, 08:47 AM

A great result for the Fusion which, while still being far from a handsome car, has at least now got some decent engineering behind it.

Cheers
Russ

irlewy86 · 19-11-2009, 09:18 AM

One to note, they prefer the alloytec powered Camero as opposed to the L98. Taurus got a hosing as well.

**Luke Plaizier** · 19-11-2009, 10:24 AM

So the Fusion is the US Mondeo right? Or is there more to it?

It still bugs me that neither the Escape nor Fusion/Mondeo Hybrid drivetrains are available to us here in Australia.

Where's Ohio XB when you want to see a good value gloat? He's been saying 'watch this space' with regards the Fusion for some time now.

Lukeyson

ST · 19-11-2009, 12:22 PM

Well it certainly didn't win the award on looks, looks like the Americans threw a truck grill on a poorly designed camry. I've seen Ssangyongs look more classy.

Ohio XB · 19-11-2009, 01:55 PM

Tastes will vary regionally so I am not going to spend time on that, other than to say many people like it here or else they wouldn't even have taken it for a test drive......like when the Ford Five Hundred debuted......or rather, flopped.

Did I think the Fusion could win this award? Yes. Did I think it should? Yes. Did I expect it to? I was hopeful.....but I was surprised to hear the news.

For decades Ford talked quality. That's what it mostly was though. Now, Ford is defining quality. You would not believe the nit-picking that goes on to refine things. Also, Ford gets groups of people that are in their target market for a specific model, or even a specific attribute of a model, and brings them in, sometimes without the people knowing who is doing the survey, and lets them play with various make cars (competitor vehicles and Ford's), various features, and gets their feedback on what they liked, disliked, would like to see, and considerations of why they feel that way. This is all considered in designing vehicles to meet what the customers want and need.

There have been countless articles about the Fusion by journalists of all sorts since the introduction of the 2010 model, all with extremely high praise, and narry a single "I didn't like it." When all the critics say it's a very good car, ya gotta go with that.

I've said this a number of times and I will say it some more.....this is an ENTIRELY different company than it was 4 years ago.

Steve

cosmo20btt · 19-11-2009, 06:00 PM

That's good news for Ford US that the local auto journalists are not biased towards one make of vehicle, unlike the case here in oz, however the tide is turning here I believe as holden are losing some support in certain media.

LeadFoot81 · 19-11-2009, 06:30 PM

Great work Fomoco! I though the new Taurus was the bees knees though?

And love it or hate it, at least the Fusion has some pizzaz (front and rear) in the looks department!

birdman941 · 20-11-2009, 08:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Luke Plaizier

So the Fusion is the US Mondeo right? Or is there more to it?

It still bugs me that neither the Escape nor Fusion/Mondeo Hybrid drivetrains are available to us here in Australia.

Where's Ohio XB when you want to see a good value gloat? He's been saying 'watch this space' with regards the Fusion for some time now.

Lukeyson

Mazda 6
I have driven the Hybrid, Sport, 4 cyl, and regular V6.
I agree with MT's evaluation.
The 4 banger actually runs pretty well.
It's a great car, and easy on the eyes with the monochrome pkg.
That's where the grille is painted body color,
and it really makes the car "pop".
Good job FoMoCo.

:
Now bring the Falcons to the States please!

Ohio XB · 21-11-2009, 02:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LeadFoot81

Great work Fomoco! I though the new Taurus was the bees knees though?

And love it or hate it, at least the Fusion has some pizzaz (front and rear) in the looks department!

Ford has cars that are hitting the bullseye first, like the Fusion, because it was the first car designed by the "New Ford". Trust me, Ford's aim is to get ALL of their cars to hit the bullseye. Taurus is doing it out of the gates, it just needs more time to be out there, be experienced, evaluated, and written about. Other Fords are soon to be "Bullseye-worthy", I feel. They have their highest quality line-up ever.

Steve

Swordsman88 · 21-11-2009, 03:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ohio XB

Ford has cars that are hitting the bullseye first, like the Fusion, because it was the first car designed by the "New Ford". Trust me, Ford's aim is to get ALL of their cars to hit the bullseye. Taurus is doing it out of the gates, it just needs more time to be out there, be experienced, evaluated, and written about. Other Fords are soon to be "Bullseye-worthy", I feel. They have their highest quality line-up ever.

Steve

Well put Steve. By putting the focus on what the 'customer' wants and then concentrating on delivering that while keeping up quality is the key to ford's success. In effect something Honda et al have been doing for a while now (and ford europe etc.) Ford NA and Ford AUs are now very much part of this set up too. Throw in world class levels of R&D and a real passion for car manufaturing (the original company that did it really....) and its looking up longer term not just short term....

As for the award well it seems well deserved. I've heard some good stuff RE the fusion and certainly the hybrid seems to really go to a new level versus what is already out there. One does wonder in years to come if Ford can shoehorn that tech into other similarly sized cars (mondeo etc.) with future platform sharing or even put a kinetic style nose job on it and sell it as a dedicated 'ford hybrid' outside the states. Sure volumes would be pittance (so no prob the us plant keeping up supply) but might help provide another option for Ford dealers in the 'greeny' future we are all going to be part of. Not saying ecoboost, diesel and LPG don't have a place but might be good if only to blunt the impact of prius/civic from toyota/honda repsectiveliy. Let's face it, if Ford can out hybrid the hybrid guys then why not take away that advantage while still making mainstream cars and perf models etc.? A truly complete lineup....

Ohio XB · 21-11-2009, 05:38 AM

The Fusion Hybrid doesn't only out-hybrid the Toyota Camry Hybrid, it also beats down the Prius, depending on what one wants.

If someone is willing to sacrifice their driving experience, has no problem tolerating a car built for mileage and not for comfort or enjoyment, accepts cheap materials and a low quality interior for the sake of keeping the price of the car down, doesn't mind road noise, likes a door-stop or computer mouse shape, doesn't expect their hybrid to go more than 25 mph on electricity only, doesn't want to equip the car with more than a bluetooth enabled stereo, the Prius wins hands down.

If someone wants a car that looks like the same car other people buy BECAUSE it is not a hybrid, or for the high performance 6 cylinder engine, has great styling, nice interior, is quiet, fun to drive, rides nice, handles great, will go 46 mph on electricity only (like most city driving, 35 mph), has all the same high tech electronics as the "regular" model, and sacrifices nothing.......then the Fusion Hybrid has it all over the Prius.

Oh, and over 80 mpg has been achieved with the Fusion Hybrid, but that's an extreme case. If someone really wanted it, you can achieve 50 mpg with the Fusion in the city as a number of journalists achieved 45 and 47 mpg while test driving.

Ford is working on being the number one vehicle manufacturer in the world when it comes to quality, value, mpg, and the environment. Ford's place in sales is expected to come accordingly. Of course style and meeting customers needs and wants are tops as well.

Remember to bring this thread up again when Ford reaches an unparalleled 1,000/1,000 TGW rating. They are at 1,206/1,000 right now. Five years ago they were at 1,960/1,000.

Steve