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January 4, 2009

Ford Fusion Hybrid: Big Car, High MPG ~ the Prius has some company.

Ford’s doing something right! Well, one thing at least, and its name is…Fusion. Readallaboudit here. Excerpt:

 

But at 41 miles per gallon in city driving and 36 miles per gallon on the highway, Ford is confident that its Fusion Hybrid will make an impression in the marketplace.

“The mileage is a real grabber to the customer,” said Mark Fields, president of Ford’s Americas division.

The midsize Fusion sedan is Ford’s strongest effort yet to break the dominance of Japanese automakers in hybrid passenger cars. The Fusion’s mileage beats the 33 miles per gallon in the city and 34 miles on highways of the Camry hybrid from Toyota.

And while the Toyota Prius has better mileage, the Fusion is a midsize car rather than a compact like the Prius.

Ford has set a modest sales target of about 25,000 vehicles a year for the Fusion hybrid and the nearly identical Mercury Milan.

Even so, the potential payoff to Ford is not limited to sales in the showroom, said one analyst.

“It’s a halo vehicle, but not a halo performance car like a Shelby Mustang or a Corvette,” said Erich Merkle of the consulting firm Crowe Horwath in Grand Rapids, Mich. “This is a green halo vehicle.”

Detroit’s Big Three came under a barrage of criticism when they went to Washington in November seeking financial help…for more, click here.

 

 

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