New York 2018: 2019 Ford Fusion Becomes Smarter

Meh, I would pass on the smarter at this point and work on the Reliable please have no Recalls! 

6 hours ago, dfelt said:

Meh, I would pass on the smarter at this point and work on the Reliable please have no Recalls! 

I wanted to say this....

But I did not know how to say it...without the post being a 2 book/part novel.

You kept it nice and short and To. The. Point.

Bra...vo!

While recalls can be concerning, I would rather a manufacturer be proactive about it than not.

Understandably, the recent news on the Fusion recalls are not for "minor" issues.  However, they also are limited in their instances.  

What I would rather than "smarter" being the primary improvements is a focus more on keeping the Fusion around and keeping it as one of the more pleasing from a driving dynamics standpoint.  I would imagine sales these days are centered around gadgetry etc and we won't be driving cars soon enough as it is... but while we are still "tilling the wheel" I would hope we could enjoy the process more and more.

I can't un-see that fog light area... 

The rest of it looks good. Good to see some updates before it may go away. 

Recalls have never bothered me. It's good to see they're proactive and addressing the issues and the injury rate on the 1.4 million vehicles has got to be somewhere in the <1% range so that stuff never really bothers me. 

Even the huge GM ignition situation.. the % of people hurt or dead are so low I still wouldn't have worried if I had a call on the list. 

I actually think this refresh fixes that problem with the 2017s that they looked wayyy to jelly bean when the 2013 when it came out had a bit more of an angular, teutonic look.

The biggest letdown is that the 6F soldiers on.

The 8F, Ford's version of the joint 9-speed is supposed to be able to be packaged into the D4, it's in the Nautilus.

But it's great that they've pared down the options and made a lot more content standard features. They had to, the Fusion can no longer command a price premium. Like Camcords and Altimatics. Hyundriers. and Kiawashers are killing this car.

The new 2018 Accord hybrid starts at $26,000.

Seriously, Ford just can't compete. They need a car that is ahead of their competitors product cycle, and thye just don't have that.

I feel bad for Ford's car group, they showed how a refresh of an also-ran could transform itself into the best car from an American company from 2009 till late 2011. This refresh changes nothing.

Pretty light 2nd MCE...new front fascia, grille and lighting..  yawn.

The Fusion styling has aged well and still looks handsome so a mild MCE is fine, but this might be a bit too mild.

Ditto about the transmission. 

I just feel that if Ford can't make money on this car even with building it in Mexico (and it only uses like 20-40% domestic content) and with so many parts sourced overseas...it serves them right to have this car fail.

The 2013 even wasn't a car that was outright a segment leader. Even then the all-new Accord was a better car in almost every way.

They'll never care to make their passenger sedans actually worth buying if they aren't willing to commit to a decades long process to gain back that market. And if there really is competitiveness issue due to foreign currency valuations, it still doesn't excuse them, because atleast the import brands use far more domestic content and engineer the cars in the US for the US. The Fusion is a long delayed car that was supposed to be the direct competitor to the last-gen Passat and Opel Insignia. For the U.S. it meant a car with a roofline too sleek, and for Europe it meant a car slightly too big and heavy.

There labour trouble in Belgium ruined the launch, and caused the car to be year late in Europe.

The reason why the 2020 redesign was canned was probably because Ford was going to do OneFord Fusion 2.0, which proved to be a compromised approach.

32 minutes ago, Suaviloquent said:

I just feel that if Ford can't make money on this car even with building it in Mexico (and it only uses like 20-40% domestic content) and with so many parts sourced overseas...it serves them right to have this car fail.

The 2013 even wasn't a car that was outright a segment leader. Even then the all-new Accord was a better car in almost every way.

No, in 2013 it was really good.  Probably the best handling of the segment aside from the Mazda 6 which it shared a platform with and the Regal which was priced way higher.  

But that really isn't the point.  You point out that if Ford can't make money on it building it in Mexico they should fail... but it's worse than that.  They can't make money on it while also being the 3rd best selling vehicle in the segment.

So they're using cheap labor and selling enough of them to beat GM, Nissan, Hyundai, Kia, and VW.... but they can't make a profit on them.  That indicates a deeper issue in Ford's accounting department. 

Anyone have any sales figures for the current-gen Mondeo (Fusion) in Europe?  Wonder how it is doing there.. I know it didn't come out until a year or two after the NA version...

1 minute ago, Drew Dowdell said:

No, in 2013 it was really good.  Probably the best handling of the segment aside from the Mazda 6 which it shared a platform with and the Regal which was priced way higher.  

But that really isn't the point.  You point out that if Ford can't make money on it building it in Mexico they should fail... but it's worse than that.  They can't make money on it while also being the 3rd best selling vehicle in the segment.

So they're using cheap labor and selling enough of them to beat GM, Nissan, Hyundai, Kia, and VW.... but they can't make a profit on them.  That indicates a deeper issue in Ford's accounting department. 

Hard to say if the Fusion is profitable. It just may be a matter of it being profitable enough. Or, that if it may be stealing sales from other platform mates (the CUV's) that are more profitable?

4 minutes ago, lengnert said:

Hard to say if the Fusion is profitable. It just may be a matter of it being profitable enough. Or, that if it may be stealing sales from other platform mates (the CUV's) that are more profitable?

They're thinking of canceling it without replacement.  The updates are certainly not going to be enough to topple the Accord or Camry..... but maybe that's the point. Ford knows they will never topple the two kings of the segment, so they only invest minimally in the car and stay satisfied with 3rd place. 

3 minutes ago, Drew Dowdell said:

They're thinking of canceling it without replacement.  The updates are certainly not going to be enough to topple the Accord or Camry..... but maybe that's the point. Ford knows they will never topple the two kings of the segment, so they only invest minimally in the car and stay satisfied with 3rd place. 

I was selling Fords when the original Fusion came out. Ford invested a lot to bring something out that would challenge the Camry and Accord for mid-size sedan sales supremacy.

I thought they really did a great job an subsequently has kept the product competitive. But, with the effort they have just maintained a 3rd (albeit a solid 3rd) place. It has mattered not that the Fusion had been better than the Camry in most every respect and the measure of the Accord as well.

I bought a Milan in that first year and still think that car (when I see one similar) looks as good as most of the new mids.

But, if they cancel the Fusion I will be sad to see it go. However, I will understand why.

I will be sad to see it go too. 

No...I DO NOT understand the reasons...

Why the Fusion prolly makes no money...

Well...my wife's Fusion, built in June of 2013, so it missed the 1 or 2 recalls the Fusion had from the get-go, has had, I dont KNOW how many my wife's recalls has had. Honestly I dont remember how many. I could easily count them using my TWO hands for sure though. Plus there is one more I just got a week or so ago plus another one that I know is on the way...

That is too many recalls....recalls cost $$$. A lot of $$$.

Maybe if Ford was more careful in engineering it and launching it properly, it stick around much longer. 

Ford could have done many an interseting things with the Fusion. The Fusion Sport is but one tiny example...

Seeing that the Fusion also shares a platform with the Edge and Lincoln products...many many interesting things...and they probably be winners at the sales department...

Its a shame. 

Audios...which is kind of a shame.  Not really a Ford lover by any means but I had a good time with the Fusion Hybrid Rental I took to Nashville for five days. Actually was quite competent on the highway, especially when we hit some really nasty weather...the big silver Ford really impressed me for a bit.

That being said, I really could not see buying it over its competition.

I still can't wrap my head around the that they are really considering letting the nameplate go.

It would be fine with them taking time to change the sedan formula. For one, a lot of the competition has now moved to the sloping roof-line look, which at worst eats into headroom, and at best just shrinks the greenhouse and impinges rear visibility. The Chrysler 200, regardless of its strengths had no success because there was no other option in the Chrysler lineup to turn a sale if someone didn't like the packaging.

They could come back with a more upright sedan and change the dynamic. There's a lot of sedan buyers that still want a straight forward sedan, more upright. Going against the grain is what Ford as a brand can actually pull off.

Where's the pride in FOMOCO? Why did they even make the GT then? EcoBoost branding makes no sense these days when your EcoBoost Fusion has worse mileage than a turbocharged Accord, like c'mon what is with this company!!

Hackett has no cars in his plan, and every car that is there is going to have to be really good at being autonomous and electric to make a difference. Every crossover utility in Ford's current lineup is based off a car platform.

I don't understand why this is even a big deal. Just a few changes before it heads to the big nameplate in the sky.

Sedans are dead. Even the old folks are moving on. Even Honda is figuring this out (finally) 

They are only going to move now with good lease deals for those looking for a kick around car for a few years, that's it.

So why waste the money.

Now you get for safety bang for your buck.......