Next Fusion spied

[AGR]

Next-Gen Ford Fusion, Mondeo To Feature Mach-E Inspired Tail Lights (fordauthority.com)

 

2023 Ford Fusion, Mondeo Sedan Spied With Less Camo In Metro Detroit (fordauthority.com)

[jpd80]

I completely understand Ford’s reasons for prioritising manufacturing and sales of Trucks and utilities over cars

but in saying that, it’s unfortunate that there are no viable avenues to import Focus and Fusion, even Taurus.

[DeluxeStang]

It seems ford intends to replace the fusion with ... something. Maybe they're going back on their decision to pull out of the sedan market in N. America.

[Oac98]

57 minutes ago, jpd80 said:

I completely understand Ford’s reasons for prioritising manufacturing and sales of Trucks and utilities over cars

but in saying that, it’s unfortunate that there are no viable avenues to import Focus and Fusion, even Taurus.

IMO this vehicle should be available for the N/A market! It’s a shame it likely won’t I totally agree with what you’re saying!

[FordBuyer]

1 hour ago, jpd80 said:

I completely understand Ford’s reasons for prioritising manufacturing and sales of Trucks and utilities over cars

but in saying that, it’s unfortunate that there are no viable avenues to import Focus and Fusion, even Taurus.

 

Me thinks Ford will have one sedan in their lineup in next few years. Maybe a Sport sedan, but I think that would go to Lincoln to compete with the German sport sedans. 

[ffdemoss]

I currently own a 2017 Fusion Titanium.  When it's time to replace it I hope Ford has something.  I use it for work, gets great gas mileage, sporty and comfortable.  Super nice car for the money.

[mustang84isu]

Ford has changed so much since Hackett was at the helm...maybe they will finally ease up on their anti-sedan stance in North America as well.  One sedan each for Ford and Lincoln keeps market share under the Ford umbrella that will otherwise be lost to competitors and allows Ford to easily pivot if sentiment and tastes shift.

[DeluxeStang]

1 hour ago, mustang84isu said:

Ford has changed so much since Hackett was at the helm...maybe they will finally ease up on their anti-sedan stance in North America as well.  One sedan each for Ford and Lincoln keeps market share under the Ford umbrella that will otherwise be lost to competitors and allows Ford to easily pivot if sentiment and tastes shift.

Agreed, the issue is plans for Ford, and every other car brand for that matter, seemed to have shuffled around quite a bit these last few years for obvious reasons. I assumed if Ford was going to reenter the sedan space that they were going to do something like a mustang sedan. Multiple individuals reported seeing one at a dealer event a few years ago, and now ford is benchmarking a slew of performance sedans. But now this car is being thrown into the mix. 

[bzcat]

Huh, the rumor of Mondeo's demise appears to be greatly exaggerated. 

 

 

[silvrsvt]

So...what are the chances that this is BEV? The exhausts on the one set of photos look fake as hell, considering the one set has no exhausts at all?

[akirby]

9 hours ago, DeluxeStang said:

Agreed, the issue is plans for Ford, and every other car brand for that matter, seemed to have shuffled around quite a bit these last few years for obvious reasons. I assumed if Ford was going to reenter the sedan space that they were going to do something like a mustang sedan. Multiple individuals reported seeing one at a dealer event a few years ago, and now ford is benchmarking a slew of performance sedans. But now this car is being thrown into the mix. 

It would have to share a lot of components and be built in spare factory capacity and it would need something to differentiate it from Camcord and the other FWD family sedans.   A Mustang/CD6 based sedan would seem to tick all those boxes.   But again that requires resources that would have to come from other future projects.

[Twin Turbo]

Tri-bars up front and VERY Mach-E inspired tail lamps..........is Ford going to make this the Mustang sedan we've heard so much about? 

Personally, I sincerely hope not. The proportions of this make me assume it's FWD with a transverse engine (or perhaps even a BEV as mentioned above).

 

I really REALLY wanted a Mustang sedan to be S650 based......RWD with the option of a V8.

 

I hope I'm wrong, but I've got a bad feeling about this!

 

 

[akirby]

No way that’s a Mustang even with the taillights.  The grille is wrong.

[Twin Turbo]

Mach E would disagree with you ?

 

(although I do agree with you lol)

[twintornados]

1 hour ago, akirby said:

It would have to share a lot of components and be built in spare factory capacity and it would need something to differentiate it from Camcord and the other FWD family sedans.   A Mustang/CD6 based sedan would seem to tick all those boxes.   But again that requires resources that would have to come from other future projects.

 

Well, Flat Rock seems to be a facility looking for more sedan based product...

[DeluxeStang]

3 hours ago, silvrsvt said:

So...what are the chances that this is BEV? The exhausts on the one set of photos look fake as hell, considering the one set has no exhausts at all?

One can hope, positioning this as an ev would actually distinguish it quite a bit from other affordable midsized sedan rivals.

[DeluxeStang]

2 hours ago, Twin Turbo said:

Tri-bars up front and VERY Mach-E inspired tail lamps..........is Ford going to make this the Mustang sedan we've heard so much about? 

Personally, I sincerely hope not. The proportions of this make me assume it's FWD with a transverse engine (or perhaps even a BEV as mentioned above).

 

I really REALLY wanted a Mustang sedan to be S650 based......RWD with the option of a V8.

 

I hope I'm wrong, but I've got a bad feeling about this!

 

 

I don't think this the mustang sedan we've heard so much about. Those tri-bar headlights are inspired by the evos more than anything. Regarding the rear, that's just a case of the mustangs design spreading throughout the rest of the ford line-up. But it's different enough from the mustang, so it doesn't detract from the mustangs design or uniqueness imo.

[FordBuyer]

1 hour ago, twintornados said:

 

Well, Flat Rock seems to be a facility looking for more sedan based product...

 

Any new Ford sedan would probably be relatively low volume. Less than 100,000/year. That would make Flat Rock prime location since Mustang sales have hit new lows and Flat Rock has built Fusions and can't build CUVs.

 

I would imagine Ford constantly reviews vehicle segments and is always looking for opportunities. I'm not saying there is an opportunity, but Ford constantly reviews if there is one....especially sport sedans that are still popular.

 

Young male and female Yuppies without children seem to prefer sport sedans, not family style vehicles for Costco runs. The Daytona is still around and seems valuable to Dodge. 

[bzcat]

We haven't seen the wagon yet. That's the one we are likely to get (Fusion Active) if we are going to get it at all. The Evos front on this Mondeo prototype and similar greenhouse confirms Evos is basically just hatchback version of this sedan, albeit with suspension lift and extra wheel house trim. 

 

I suspect Mondeo Active will look a lot more like Evos (raised suspension etc) but with long roof. Basically, Ford will make 3 versions of this car:

 

1. Sedan with normal suspension (Mondeo)

2. Hatchback with raised suspension (Evos)

3. Wagon with raised suspension (Fusion Active)

 

 

 

Edited October 29, 2021 by bzcat

[akirby]

2 hours ago, twintornados said:

 

Well, Flat Rock seems to be a facility looking for more sedan based product...

Unless they’re moving Mustang and closing FRAP.

[BoomerSooner]

As a Ford buyer with absolutely, positively, completely, no inclination whatsoever to ever venture off paved road, Ford's obsession with all things  4WD is lost on me.  Is the Bronco cool? Sure. Is the Bronco Sport a nice Escape upgrade? Sure. Is the Raptor a beast off-road? Unquestioned.  Do these seem to be powering Ford's profitability? Apparently.  Would I instead like a nice-handling car/CUV/thingy that handled well, was comfortable, and didn't bobble about on a jacked up suspension?  Yes!

[DeluxeStang]

1 hour ago, akirby said:

Unless they’re moving Mustang and closing FRAP.

I could have sworn in union negotiations Ford committed to having the s650 produced at Flat Rock. But things change all the time.

[DeluxeStang]

2 hours ago, bzcat said:

We haven't seen the wagon yet. That's the one we are likely to get (Fusion Active) if we are going to get it at all. The Evos front on this Mondeo prototype and similar greenhouse confirms Evos is basically just hatchback version of this sedan, albeit with suspension lift and extra wheel house trim. 

 

I suspect Mondeo Active will look a lot more like Evos (raised suspension etc) but with long roof. Basically, Ford will make 3 versions of this car:

 

1. Sedan with normal suspension (Mondeo)

2. Hatchback with raised suspension (Evos)

3. Wagon with raised suspension (Fusion Active)

 

 

 

I really want that sedan or the evos. Ironically, a lifted wagon is the one that least appeals to me, but as you stated, that's probably what we'll get in the states.

[silvrsvt]

1 hour ago, BoomerSooner said:

As a Ford buyer with absolutely, positively, completely, no inclination whatsoever to ever venture off paved road, Ford's obsession with all things  4WD is lost on me.  Is the Bronco cool? Sure. Is the Bronco Sport a nice Escape upgrade? Sure. Is the Raptor a beast off-road? Unquestioned.  Do these seem to be powering Ford's profitability? Apparently.  Would I instead like a nice-handling car/CUV/thingy that handled well, was comfortable, and didn't bobble about on a jacked up suspension?  Yes!

The thing is your in the minority and well I guess the Mach E would fit that bill for being able to handle better then your typical CUV.

 

15 minutes ago, DeluxeStang said:

I could have sworn in union negotiations Ford committed to having the s650 produced at Flat Rock. But things change all the time.

 

The current contact runs out in 2023 I think and Flat Rock was almost killed off at the last minute in the last contract. 

 

The question of the hour is where does it actually go if that happens.

 

The only thing that remotely makes any sense to me and this is stretch, is maybe it will to go LAP? From reading the tea leaves with electrification, The Escape or some variant of it will come from Oakville as part of the as a BEV model and that is supposed to happen in the next 2-3 years.

We are supposed to get a BEV based on the MME platform that will support a Mid/large BEV that will be some sort of Explorer Sport to expand the Explorer lineup, and that will be made in Mexico with the Mach E along with a Lincoln version. 

 

Oakville is getting the smaller CUV based on the MEB platform from VW.

 

So with that said, I can see the gas powered versions of the Escape and Corsair sales shrinking and adding the Mustang and maybe a Fusion CUV to the plant would add at least 150K units.

 

That would carry LAP till it gets retooled to make BEVs.

 

At least that makes some sense to me.

[BoomerSooner]

49 minutes ago, silvrsvt said:

The thing is your in the minority and well I guess the Mach E would fit that bill for being able to handle better then your typical CUV.

I already acknowledged that the SUV craze is fueling Ford's profitability.  And I *am* probably in the minority from Ford's perspective.  However, despite that, here is this new Fusion/Evos, which appears to have zilch in way of off-road credentials (and I'm down with that).  With any luck, it'll come with a gas engine and not the limited range/slow recharge of the current BEV offerings.