New report from Bloomberg about Fusions

[dalesky]

Just read an interesting report linked from Yahoo's front page to a Bloomberg article about Ford boosting it's capacity for making Fusions. Here is the link, and a short excerpt follows: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-25/ford-fusion-output-boost-tests-2-300-premium-over-camry.html?cmpid=yhoo

 

The Fusion has prompted Toyota to acknowledge the challenge it faces to maintain leadership for its Camry sedan, which has reigned as the top-selling U.S. passenger car for 11 years and 15 of the last 16.

“It is true that rival carmakers have come out with very competitive models in the segment, and that competition in the U.S. mid-size sedan segment is becoming fiercer,” Nobuyori Kodaira, a Toyota executive vice president, said last week in Tokyo. “What we need to do is to come out with even more competitive models.”

The additional production from Flat Rock could allow Ford to stretch for as much as 450,000 units of combined annual Fusion output from the Michigan factory and its Hermosillo plant inMexico, said Jeff Schuster, an analyst for LMC Automotive. The researcher estimates that Toyota has capacity in North America to build about 475,000 Camrys per year, while Honda can assemble about 450,000 Accords.

LMC forecasts Ford making about 350,000 to 360,000 Fusions this year, Schuster said.

 

[vangonebuy]

I think the new mid size Styling Revolution is all due to the 2011 Hyundai Sonata.

That is why Ford restyled the Fusion so well.

And now Toyota must respond. 2013 Avalon is a start.

Honda is next.... I hope.

Chevy ????

[dalesky]

I think the new mid size Styling Revolution is all due to the 2011 Hyundai Sonata.

That is why Ford restyled the Fusion so well.

And now Toyota must respond. 2013 Avalon is a start.

Honda is next.... I hope.

Chevy ????

I agree with the Sonata remark, and the Kia Optima is another nice looking sedan. Yes, the Avalon is nice, but it still doesn't match the handling of many others of similar size. The interior on our Fusions matches it any day

[hybridbear]

I like the Kia Optima better than the Sonata. My brother-in-law has a 2013 Sonata and from the back it looks better than the FFH we think, but from the front...there's just no comparison to the looks of the Fusion in the front.

 

Thanks dalesky for sharing this article.

[acdii]

When I was looking at an alternative to the 13 FFH, the only one that was close in comparison was the Avalon. I just couldn't see paying that much for the car when a loaded up Energi cost less when you add in all the options to be equal. The latest rendition of Camry is leaps over the 09 we had, but still not as nice or has as many options as the Fusion, though the base radio does sound better, and the maps are a little better in the Nav. Going from the 13 Fusion to the 13 TCH would be going down as I saw it. Even so, if Toyota did nothing to the Camry, the die hards would still buy them no matter how good the Fusion is.

Edited August 28, 2013 by acdii

[dalesky]

Today the Morning Joe show was filmed in the Ford Flat Rock assembly plant, outside Detroit. Ford has made a commitment to bring many jobs back to the U.S. and to expand their Fusion production in America. That's a good thing!