For What It's Worth, You'll Be Able to Get Your Hands on a 2020 Ford Fusion

Stop the presses. Ford’s Fusion sedan, a member of the passenger car crowd Ford sentenced to death last year, will at least outlive its non-Mustang stablemates.

While American-market Focus and C-Max production has already dried up, followed soon by the Taurus and Fiesta, Ford was never clear on when exactly the Fusion midsizer would bite the dust. The exact date of its impending death remains a mystery, but there’s now assurances from Ford that Fusions will continue rolling into dealers until at least the 2020 model year.

After seeing production data for a 2020 Fusion, CarsDirect sought confirmation from Ford. Company spokesperson Sam Schembari replied in the affirmative. Yes, there’ll still be Fusions on shopping lists for the 2019 and 2020 model years.

Whether Ford builds a run of 2021 models — the target year for Ford’s car cull completion — remains to be seen.

CarsDirect notes consumers still have access to healthy incentives on remaining Focus models, as well as the Fiesta (the only Ford car model to end 2018 with a sales increase). For midsize shoppers, the site points out that lease deals on 2019 Fusion hybrid models are far more attractive than that of their cheaper, gas-only counterparts, which isn’t news to Adam Tonge, who spent no shortage of time scanning Detroit-area Fusion Hybrid ads the other night. The Midwest seems to be brimming with cheap Fusion Hybrids.

Assuming you’re in the market for a mainstream sedan, it’s worth noting that all 2019 Fusions come with the automaker’s Co-Pilot360 suite of driver assist features as standard equipment. Second-from-base SE models ditch the old 2.5-liter in favor of a turbocharged 1.5-liter, while Energi plug-in variants extend their electric driving range by 4 miles.

Unlike its passenger car stablemates, the Fusion’s two hybrid variants deliver green cred that should hold the company over until new hybrids and EVs come online starting in 2020. It’s also possible that, after that date, the Fusion name won’t fade away. Rumors exist of the nameplate affixing itself to a crossover-like vehicle aimed at Ford car faithful — rumors Ford hasn’t exactly denied.

Despite the ongoing collapse of the country’s passenger car market, the Fusion remains the best-selling car nameplate in Ford’s stable. Its 173,600 U.S. sales in 2018 represent a 17.2 percent decline from a year prior.

[Images: Ford]