Great. We'll see how it works out.


One thing we know that the Fusion won't offer is being built at one of the top three quality plants in North America...


Since I live in Michigan, and we have this stuff here called snow, in combination with another thing known as the "lake effect" I think my analysis relative the efficacy of AWD in an appliance is fairly grounded in reality.

Again, we shall see...

 

I thought the 500 was supposed to be the higher volume car? Guess I just mixed them up. Too many "F" names.

 

Better looking sheetmetal.

 

No, the 500 has a sales goal of 100K units per year, with a total for the 500/Montego/Freestyler being 200K units. Frankly, they don't care what the distribution of those models are.

I think I read somewhere that Ford is has projected the sales of the Fusion at about 180K units. As it has a full model lineup with 4 cylinder and V6 powerplants (AWD becomes an option for the 2007 MY), and a price range from $18K to $26K............ that seems very doable.

On some of the general forums (such as Autoweek), the Fusion has gotten a very positive reception............ even from import lovers.

I guess its success or failure remains to be seen.

Pacer, as for which plant the Impala is built in............... do you really think that most potential buyers know, or even care??? Frankly, the "perception" of GM's quality is about the same as the "perception" of Fords. In other words, many think it is far below Toyota and Honda's quality. What plant its built at is not going to change many minds.

 

From what i've seen thus far, the fusion should be a nice car. I like the styling, interior looks good, and the 3.5L due next year should give it a much needed boost in the power department. SVT version should be hot. Overall, a MAJOR improvement over the last gen taurus. Imo, the fusion will probably be as close as the domestics get to camry/accord/altima in terms of appeal and such. The 3.9L Malibu SS would be close as well (liking it more and more). The Impala to me is just blah for some reason...even for an applience.

 

I may be a GM biased guy but I fully expect the Fusion to be a hit. It is a GREAT looking car inside and out. Note I have not seen one in person but I am dying to do so.

 

I think it does matter. I think folks know that Impala is a quality and value benchmark - that's why they keep buying them in droves.

That's pretty much irrespective of what Ford does or doesn't do. The cold, hard fact of the matter is that Impala beat the ever-loving snot out of the last Taurus redesign and is a proven product.

Now, Ford needs to step up to the plate and provide an equivalent product. We'll see if they can.

BTW - concerning objective data, regardless of public perception, GM is beating up Ford pretty bad in the quality department.

 

Just from my personal perspective....with the proper tires, FWD is just fine in the snow. I don't think I'd choose to take AWD's negatives (weight, cost, etc.)...simply to have a better "snow car". Nor would I choose AWD over FWD in a performance car of around 200 or so horsepower.
But on a FWD platform that has lots of power...AWD, definitely has some performance advantages.

The SVT Fusion will have AWD, not for any snow advantage, but to more effectively put it's power to the ground.

Getting back to the Impala SS...in addition to it having more dramatic sheetmetal, AWD would be a welcomed addition IMO. At the LS4's power/torque, we're pretty much at the limits of what FWD can handle. We'd be nowhere near it if it came with AWD.

 

I agree. On top of the conventional 4cyl, 3.0/3.5L v6, and 2.3L turbo 4 (SVT), it'll also have a Hybrid powerplant sometime 2007 or 2008. Right now, the only midsize sedan with a Hybrid motor is the accord (and Toyota just announced plans for a hybrid camry), so that'll be one selling point for those that desire a hybrid (currently a very small but quickly growing market).

 

That would be a MAJOR selling point for a lot of people (me included). Right now, the excitement generated by the 303hp Ls4 is dampened by the Fwd setup.

 

Actually GM should have the belt driven Hybrid system on the Malibu Ecotec about the same time frame, but come on why would take the Malibu sedan over the Fusion in terms of styling. Maxx maybe but not the sedan.

 

Wasn't aware of GM's hybrid sedans. Is it a mild-hybrid like the Silverado?

The SS version of the Malibu Sedan looks pretty good imo, much better than the standard non-SS.
http://www.tuningnews.net/news/05032...libu-ss-05.jpg
http://www.tuningnews.net/news/05032...libu-ss-03.jpg

 

I wouldn't exactly call the redesigned Taurus a pretty product.

The car was so bad looking, that Ford rushed a new front & rear design within 2 years.

Fusion will have serious volume over the Five Hundred in the way Camary has serious volume over the Avalon.

You're right, Ford isn't really particular about the breakdown of FiveHundred/Montego/Freestyle. It was all under one program, and the returns, for lack of a better term, is going into one bank.

For all intents and purposes, Fusion is Ford's Taurus replacement. The Five Hundred is more of a complement to (or, taking up the slack of) the Crown Victoria. Once the Fusion is out, the Taurus is dead.

The Fusion, though not as huge as the Five Hundred, is not a small car! It's roughly the size of the CTS (around 190+" long). It also is far more stylish than the Five Hundred, which will also adopt the Fusion's grill next year (which I feel isn't a good idea for the Fusion).

 

I will since I don't see the Impala outselling 3 cars. What was the sales numbers of the Impala in 04?

 

But therein lies the problem, at least in trying to "sell" such a vehicle to a crowd like this. I'm not a "mainstream" buyer, and I doubt that anyone on this board would take pride in being one, either. Sure, the car may sell very well, but will it actually draw in buyers from other segments or command more profit than other cars that sell at a similar price?

Taking a conventional approach to a mainstream market segment that's already crowded probably won't result in a "home run". The folks swinging for the fences nowadays are doing it with "novel" approaches - say, $25K ponycars and $30K RWD sedans. To some people, such approaches look risky; to others, it's really freakin' obvious what needs to be done (and the question of how to do it isn't a reason to kill the entire idea).