As If 200,000 Fusions Cried Out In Triumph…

Jack Baruth
by Jack Baruth

According to Wards Auto, the Ford Fusion is sitting at over 196,000 sales as November 30. A 200,000-unit year seems imminent. Why is this a big deal, and what does it say about Ford’s position in the marketplace when a facelift car has its best-ever year in a collapsing economy?

This is a tough time to be a Ford detractor. Like them or loathe them, the Dearborn boys have come out from the domestic collapse as the clear winners. The Focus was roundly panned by the spec-sheet-readers among the media and then went on to light up the sales charts, something I lampooned here two and a half years ago. Now we hear that the facelifted Fusion is set to have its best-ever year half a decade after its introduction.

The move from trucks to cars hasn’t hurt: Ward’s notes that

Cars have accounted for 36.8% of Ford’s deliveries through November, according to Ward’s data. In 2004, the year before the Fusion made its debut, Ford’s sales ratio was 29:71 in favor of light trucks.

Still, it has to be said that the conventional wisdom predicted that customers would flee the F-150 for the Accord and Sonata, when in fact they simply appear to have chosen a Fusion instead. A series of glowing predictions in Consumer Reports doesn’t appear to have hurt the Fusion nameplate, either. Last but certainly not least, Ford made the choice to develop and promote a very well-thought-out Fusion full hybrid while General Motors tried to bamboozle the eco-customer with a very, very mild hybrid Malibu. That “bold move” paid off in spades. Ford dealers tell me that the Fusion Hybrid is, literally, a “halo car”; buyers come in to see the battery bucket but end up taking a plain SE home.

In the “bad news” column, the Fiesta isn’t doing the numbers Ford had hoped for, selling at a rate that is approximately half that of the Yaris and one-third that of the Honda Fit. The PR spin is that the car is “popular in California”. That could be just hype, or it could be meaningful. Once upon a time, the Honda Accord was “big in California”, you know…

Jack Baruth
Jack Baruth

More by Jack Baruth

Comments
Join the conversation
3 of 94 comments
  • Jbltg Jbltg on Dec 31, 2010

    Rented a Fiesta 4-door back in September to tool around New England for a week or so and was very impressed with the gas mileage and smooth quiet ride. Not so good were the boredom of driving it (I prefer RWD, period), lack of trunk space even with the rear seats folded for the luggage of only two people, Klingon dashboard design and very annoying key fob operation and other tedious electronics nonsense that it insisted on doing. Quite a few strong qualities, but nowhere near enough to compensate for the negatives to get me to actually purchase one. And not at those prices.

  • Mjz Mjz on Dec 31, 2010

    Ford needs to add a base S hatchback to the Fiesta line-up.

    • PrincipalDan PrincipalDan on Dec 31, 2010

      What they really need is a three door hatch so we can go GTI hunting! ;) Oh wait I'd rather have a three door Mazda 2 cause the Mazda is lighter and sportier, sorry I don't need a ton of sound deadening in a car like that.

  • FreedMike Off topic, but folks, this site is not working well for me from a technical standpoint, and it doesn't matter if I'm using my phone, or my computer (on two different browsers). It locks up and makes it impossible to type anything in after a certain point. Anyone else having these issues?
  • Syke Kinda liked the '57, hated the '58. Then again, I hated the entire '58 GM line except for the Chevrolet. Which I liked better than the '57's. Still remember dad's '58 Impala hardtop, in the silver blue that was used as the main advertising color.
  • Dartdude The bottom line is that in the new America coming the elites don't want you and me to own cars. They are going to make building cars so expensive that the will only be for the very rich and connected. You will eat bugs and ride the bus and live in a 500sq-ft. apartment and like it. HUD wants to quit giving federal for any development for single family homes and don't be surprised that FHA aren't going to give loans for single family homes in the very near future.
  • Ravenuer The rear view of the Eldo coupe makes it look fat!
  • FreedMike This is before Cadillac styling went full scale nutty...and not particularly attractive, in my opinion.
Next