I just got done reading the article in Car and Driver and Consumer reports and nothing but positive things were said about the Fusion. Not only that but Car and Driver had a comparison between Chevy Malibu Hybrid, Toyota Camry Hybrid, Fusion Hybrid and one other and the Fusion came in first which was a total surprise to me. I think this new Fusion is gonna be a winner when it comes out. It's about time Ford had a winner in the "Hybrid" segment. They need it bad.

 

All they have to do is market it, which IMO Ford is terrible at doing. If it's not the F150 or SD, then it gets 0 add dollars. Just looks at the hybrid Escape. When was the last time that you saw an add for one of those?

Mike

 

I think Ford definitely has a winner in this car. If they are anywhere near as reliable and fuel efficient as the Escape hybrids have been then it will be a success.

I think a big part of the reason for no advertisement for the Escape hybrids is that they can't produce enough of them, especially when gas was at four bucks. If the Fusion can be produced in large enough quantities, I think they will sell like hotcakes.

The Fusion will use the same (or scaled down) drivetrain as that is in the 2009 Escape hybrid which from what I have read gets great mileage.

 

Ya know that's a good point because I never have actually. I did however see 3 F150 commercials today though.

 

Interesting, I have C&D sitting next to me but haven't gotten to it yet. Should be a good read tonite.

 

Yeah, they have depended too long on only the escape hybrid, they needed a hybrid car bad. The fusion is a great choice, it's a mid size sedan and allready is a big seller. There's also supost to be a GT version of the fusion around 2010 with the 3.5 V-6 at over 300 hp. I read on blue oval news that the hybrid fusion gets 38 mpg city, thats great for a mid size.

 

I was hoping when the Escape hybrid came out that Ford would scale down the powerplant and put it in the Focus. Had they done so they could have been going head to head for the last few years with the ugly-as-sin Priius. The Focus is a great car to begin with - getting over 50 mpg would have made it a best-seller IMHO.

 

This is one of the big areas where I think Ford, GM and Chysler as well, missed the boat. They kept trying to pound trucks and SUVs down everyone's throats while foreign brands really pounded them in fuel efficient vehicles.

I can only hope that they stick to thier guns on this one. I've heard that with low fuel prices and lots of incentives that trucks are going to outsell cars again in December. Hopefully they don't run back to the easy money and end up with thier pants down when fuel goes back up again.

Mike

 

You mean like the Tundra? I'm not trying to be a jerk here, but Detroit has many times tried to sell small cars, and many times not done well. ( Not always due to having a bad product either).

It's been fact of life. Americans have a lot of road, and we like to haul lots of things. Pickups got big because the government neutered the towing abilty of cars. Japan and Europe, on the other hand, are smaller, and small cars work out in a lot of cases. But, when there's a crisis, American automakers are blamed for not making smaller cars that they generally have a hard time selling.

That being said, I hope that the Fusion does well. I'm not really convinced that the hybrid concept really accomplishes anything, but it's a popular deal these days. So, I hope that the Fusion hybrid does well too. And, no offense meant to BLK94F150.

 

Many (I want to say most but couldn't back it up except by what I see on the road) large pickups and SUV's never haul anything but air and the asses of the owners. It has nothing to do with how much road we have in this country or how much we like to haul - it has more to do with cheap gas until recently and the safety and fuel efficiency exemptions given to trucks and SUV's that fueled their popularity....IMHO

2004 Ford Escape XLT, 3.0 Auto - 19 mpg average in one year of ownership
2005 Ford Escape Hybrid - 34 mpg lifetime average in just under four years
2006 Ford Escape Hybrid - 34 mpg average over 3.5 years

You may not be convinced, but myself and many other people who have actually driven and owned hybrids are.

 

I don't believe they are pounding suv's down everyones throat, people still love suv's, they just hate the mileage. It made since to build a hybrid suv. The escape is one of fords best sellers, I just bought a mariner myself. People don't want to drive stinken ecoboxes, there being forced to. Given a choice, who wouldn't take an suv or truck over some stinken little puke car. Improve the mpg of suv's and trucks and they will still sell big. Were not an econobox nation by choice, the gas is forcing the issue. My 4x4 mariner gets 21.6 local and 25 hyway, I can live with that. I think they haven't built a hybrid focus is because the fiesta is comming next year and it gets close to 50 mpg without being hybrid, it has a 118 hp duratec with a 6 speed manual option. The test I read said it got 47 mpg. This is only the first wave of things to come, ford, as well as us, knows gas will not remain this cheap. Thier even working to impove the mpg of the F-series, most people buy trucks to work them as the main purpose, better mpg would be just a bonus. Then there's supost to me a smaller F-100 and the 4 cylinder based ranger in 2012. People still love and want trucks, this site tells that.

 

No, some of us want to drive NICE econoboxes. I drove a Focus for five years and absolutely loved the car. Now my job requires me to be on many different construction sites and I have to cary lots of equipment so an SUV became a necessity. If I had a straight commute, I'd be driving a Focus still or again.

I rented an '08 Focus for a week earlier this month and when I turned it in I had averaged just under 42 mpg over almost 450 miles. About 200 of that was 70 mpg interstate the rest was 5-10 mile trips around the county visiting family. Ford has improved on an already great car since the 2001 I had.

I'm spoiled by great mileage now so it would s*ck to go back to crappy mileage. I'll be watching the Fusion hybrid closely.

 

I didn't say everyone wants a truck or suv, but everyone doesn't want an econobox either. alot of people in this country do need trucks and suv's for thier work, farms ect, ect. I'm a truck guy and just perfer them, but we do live in the country, have a mini/hobby farm and I work construction. There's still a big market for such vehicles if gas prices don't scare people to death.

 

I'm also a truck guy. But what they did was kept producing well in excess of sales instead of trimming production and making more fuel efficient cars.

Mike

 

Why? because thats what was selling. The high gas prices hit all at once last summer and that fast, trucks and suv's were out, and econoboxes were in. Now that gas prices have come down, whats selling again, trucks and suv's. The F-150 is still the best selling vehicle in a america. So what does americans really want? The escape has been hot since it rolled out in 01. Thats where people compermise between a car and an suv. Crossovers are the new rage, because there suv's that get better mpg. I agree there is a market for fuel effient cars now and ford is answering with the 48 mpg fiesta and fusion hybrid with others in the works. However, americans still love there trucks and suv's as a whole.