GS69

Ford May Simply Kill the Fusion in the U.S. - Motor Trend

Why bother competing in the midsize sedan segment anymore?

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If you’re in the market for a midsize sedan, it’s a fantastic time to buy. Both the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry have been recently redesigned, the Hyundai Sonata was just refreshed, the Mazda6 is set to get a turbocharger, and Ford will happily sell you an all-wheel-drive Fusion that makes 380 lb-ft of torque. If you’re an automaker trying to sell midsize sedans, however, it hasn’t been the best year. Sales are down across the board, with several models posting year-over-year sales drops of more than 20 percent. But instead of redesigning the Fusion to better compete with the Camry and Accord, it looks like Ford might give up on selling it in the U.S. altogether.

Our 1st hint came last week when Ford confirmed it plans to stop building the Fusion in its Hermosillo, Mexico, factory. Our 1st thought was that Ford would import the Fusion from China, but that was quickly shut down. “We have no plans to export the next-generation Fusion/Mondeo from China to North America and Europe,” a representative told us in an email. As Automotive News points out, assuming Ford isn’t lying, that means it would have to find a factory in a different country to produce the North American Fusion or stop selling it here.

But when Automotive News asked Jim Hackett, Ford’s new CEO, if he thought the Fusion had a future in the U.S., Hackett responded by saying, “I’m giving you a hint.” Considering that he’d just been talking about no longer producing the Fusion in North America and not importing it from China, it sure sounds like Hackett was saying-without-actually-saying he doesn’t expect to sell the next Fusion in the ‘States.

RNM GS3

Another dumb decision by Ford.

Always take the easy road and give up.

mmarshall

Have to agree with RNM GS3...a questionable decision, though it's no secret that sedans are currently out of vogue in the U.S. If the Fusion goes, then the Lincoln MKZ is likely to go with it. They are (not surprisingly) built on the same assembly line in Hermosillo, Mexico.

The Fusion is an excellent car....IMO, one of Ford's best products. I'd be sorry to see either it or the MKZ go....though the build-solidness of the MKZ could be improved a little.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

chrysler made the wise prompt decision by abandoning the 200, which was a great car, but tough competition in a shrinking market with a rough introduction meant it was doomed.

the fusion's obviously done better but no doubt must be having a seriously rough time against accord, camry, optima, mazda 6 (although their numbers are tiny), subaru legacy, (trying to think of gm equiv ), malibu. heck the civic too which has grown so much it's probably not much smaller if any than fusion.

mmarshall

The Fusion, like the Legacy, offered AWD....so did the Buick Regal. The Malibu, though, does not. Neither does any of the other American-market sedans in this class.

jadu

iTrader: (42)

They're probably going to focus on their crossovers and SUV's and its reminiscent of Mitsubishi's decision to kill its Lancer. At least they still have the Focus

JDR76

From Autoweek:

RNM GS3

Way to put all your eggs in one basket.
Wagons and Minivans were all the rage once as well.

Sedans are not going anywhere imo.
Sales are lower but its still a HUGE chunk of the overall market.
Just wait until the fuel prices go back up.......

mmarshall

The SUV market, back then, for the most part, did not exist as it does today. You had the Range Rover, Jeep Wagoneer/Cherokee/CJ, a couple of others, and that was it.

Can't really use the price of gas much as an excuse any more. Thanks to downsizing, crossovers, and more efficient design, SUVs often get comparable mileage to sedans, unless they are very large or very heavy.

MattyG

This is a puzzling decision on Ford's part. The company will probably rely on global sales of the Mondeo after this, if they go this route. But they sold far more Fusions in 2016 and soon to end 2017 then they sold Ford Edge CUVs in both those years. So the car to SUV explanation doesn't quite hold up. Maybe they've decided to abandon the midsize market to Toyota and Honda, who both sold way more Camrys and Accords each, compared to Fusion.

They have seen a pretty big decline in numbers for Fusion from 2014 to 2016/17 - over 100K units, so maybe they're panicking and putting their money into moving more Ford Edge CUVs. The year to date decline for Fusion from August 2016 to August 2017 is -27%.

http://fordauthority.com/fmc/ford-mo...sales-numbers/
http://fordauthority.com/2017/09/for...s-august-2017/
http://fordauthority.com/fmc/ford-mo...sales-numbers/

Camry and Accord easily outsell Fusion despite the lack of an AWD option. It's one reason both those cars have been around for decades despite the ongoing CUV craze.

http://carsalesbase.com/us-car-sales.../toyota-camry/
http://carsalesbase.com/us-car-sales.../honda-accord/

mmarshall

The Camry and Accord outsell the Fusion in the U.S. because of their long-standing reputation that goes back several decades, and, for the most part, is somewhat outdated today. People's minds can often be very slow to change, long after conditions in the auto industry have. But, like it or not, the Fusion is an excellent competitor...as is Chevy's Malibu and Kia's Optima. In fact, the Optima may (?) be the best one of all.

MattyG

Yes, Kia's in a sort of trailing "lead" somewhat. They produce the well received and nicely done Optima which trails the Fusion. And of course the Fusion is in a tough spot competing both with Toyota and Honda at the same time. Living in the winter belt, I can attest to the real value of AWD and Fusion offers a decently styled roomy vehicle with that very setup. But as you say, Camry and Accord provide virtually worry free motoring and they are both new this upcoming MY.

Fizzboy7

Would really be a bad decision to drop the Fusion. While sedan sales are down, they are still a huge chunk of the market. Those who produce decent designs, sell a lot and make a lot of money off selling larger quantities. I see a lot of new Fusions here in L.A., so I am positive Ford is making money at least around here. It's a good design that stacks up well with the others. The real problem is not keeping it fresh and letting it linger for too long. A simple facelift or more substantial re-do would breath more sales into it. So if Ford does let it go, it's only because of their own laziness to keep it updated. The bottom line is there is money to be made here, but that won't happen if you let things dry on the vine. Really basic retail business concepts.
My prediction is they will wise up and not drop it.

Toys4RJill

MattyG

It would be a difficult comparison for the upcoming MY2018 because Optima is on its current platform vs Camry on its brand new architecture. I think there's a subtle psychology with buyers maybe deciding to look at brand new platforms.

388K for MY 2016 and MY 2017, which is the outgoing car, looks to be closing in on 344K. Optima is 124K in 2016, and is sitting on 100K 2017 ytd. Quite lopsided.

http://www.goodcarbadcar.net/2011/01...sales-figures/