2012 fusion gets new wheel design

[blazerdude20]

not sure if anyone has seen these but here is a pic of 2012 fusion se with the new 17" alloy design. much better then the covers last year.

 

Edited July 10, 2011 by blazerdude20

[Taurusguy]

Yes! In fact, the wheels are why I just purchased the 2012 even though the rebates are bigger on the 2011.

[BORG]

Heard about this in the 2012 order guide. Very glad to see they ditched those horrible stone-trap wheel covers from the the previous two years. It's actually one of the reasons my sister didn't buy a Ford Fusion, the SE had those terrible wheels.

 

I also see that the color selection right now is VERY minuscule for cars like the Fusion and Edge. The Edge is available in only 4-colors!

Edited July 10, 2011 by BORG

[ds91776]

I actually loved the previous wheels. I thought they look/ed much better than the wheels on the SELs. This color selection business for Ford is getting silly. I know the Japanese quake situation is limiting colors but this process started before that. Many trim levels now only offer 4-5 colors, and many force you into certain interior and package combos as well. I absolutely hate that. It is a bad ( for the customer ) business decision. It may save the company a few pennies here and there, but it will turn off customers. Kia has always been this way too, only offering 3-4 colors per trim level, even if they offer a wider array on the entire car. It is penny wise but pound foolish in my estimation.

[Biker16]

I think it is strange that they would release a new wheel design when this is the last model year for the Car. the

 

the Fusion's 5x 114 bolt pattern looks to change on the next fusion which should use the the same 5x 108 bolt pattern used on the Focus and Mondeo.

[rkisler]

I think it is strange that they would release a new wheel design when this is the last model year for the Car. the

 

the Fusion's 5x 114 bolt pattern looks to change on the next fusion which should use the the same 5x 108 bolt pattern used on the Focus and Mondeo.

 

Your'e right, but wheels can be a rather inexpensive way to spruce up the exterior visuals when there is no other money in the plan due to the imminent model changeover.

 

By the way, you've mentioned KC as a possibility for the first wave of CD4, followed by Hermosillo. That sounds logical to me as KC will be a clean slate when the Escape builds out, but I haven't seen or heard anything about the renovations plan for either facility (unlike the advanced press which we heard concerning the MAP and LAP conversions). So, I'm presuming <J1> will have to be 3Q/4Q next year to allow for facilitizing the plants??

[lost1]

Heard about this in the 2012 order guide. Very glad to see they ditched those horrible stone-trap wheel covers from the the previous two years. It's actually one of the reasons my sister didn't buy a Ford Fusion, the SE had those terrible wheels.

 

I also see that the color selection right now is VERY minuscule for cars like the Fusion and Edge. The Edge is available in only 4-colors!

I bet a lot of buyers (myself included) did not even consider the SE and bought an SEL because of those wheels. Ford may have hit on a way to upsell the Fusion without realizing it.

[Biker16]

Your'e right, but wheels can be a rather inexpensive way to spruce up the exterior visuals when there is no other money in the plan due to the imminent model changeover.

 

By the way, you've mentioned KC as a possibility for the first wave of CD4, followed by Hermosillo. That sounds logical to me as KC will be a clean slate when the Escape builds out, but I haven't seen or heard anything about the renovations plan for either facility (unlike the advanced press which we heard concerning the MAP and LAP conversions). So, I'm presuming <J1> will have to be 3Q/4Q next year to allow for facilitizing the plants??

 

the escape ends production Q4 this year. the upgrades to KCAP include a new body shop, and other improvements, but it will not be a complete gut, and refurbish.

 

If the plant is to be simply the fusion and MKZ plant the added flexibility in the final line, should not be needed. I hold more hope that HAP will undergo major changes to refurb its trim line to accept a wider variety vehicles for sale in North America and South America.

 

OUR MANUFACTURING SYSTEM IS KILLING US RIGHT NOW. It is am making ford slow to react to the market. I wonder how well excuted the product offensive will be?

 

MAP is still stumbling along @ 24-26k per month, and the new focus is still in short supply, they simply can maintain production volume, which has a domino effect on the other products planning to be launched in the next few months. the supply chian issue that MAP is having could also effect the LAP as it ramps up.

 

the issue I can see is KCAP is producing the Escape on 3 shifts right now, LAP is supposed to either open with 3 shifts or have that third shift in place months or weeks after launch. due to the commonality between the Escape and Focus MAP will be making parts for the escape and Focus. I would also guess the Escape IP will be made along side the Focus IP in saline, which does not bode well for the escape, because the saline is a major bottleneck in the Focus supply chain. how Can ford address this potential issue before it becomes a problem?

 

I would say that the scale of one ford in north America is akin to the Transplant's first plants, except the transplants, gradually built-out a local supplier network, while ford is doing it overnight, everything is SOO NEW. and it moving SOO FAST. the only solution is to dump money into the problem areas, and as volume increases to an estimated 1.5-2 million based on the C2 and EUCD/CD4 architectures, the costs will decrease proportionally. the long view is we are within the first 100k units of this supplier network, with eventual volumes of millions per year. I guess around CY 2013, these issues should be resolved.

 

until then I'd expect alot of sputtering.