We’ve been talking about the fact that Ford has announced it will reduce its passenger car line but the Fusion might begin a new life.
While that means we expect to see the end of the Focus, Taurus, Fiesta, and Fusion as we know them, the Fusion is a model that’s being looked at for a new purpose. The Focus will live on as a small crossover utility vehicle in the Focus Active, but the Fusion was slated to meet its end with the rest of the line. Now it seems that plans may have changed.
The Plan We See Now for the Ford Fusion
Currently, the end of the Taurus, Focus, and Fiesta is scheduled for the middle of next year with the current Fusion model looking to hang around until 2021. At this point, there could be no more sedans in the entire Ford lineup, but talk has already started to consider building something that could compete with what Buick and Volvo have been offering us. These two brands have been building sport wagons for our enjoyment and have been successful in doing so, which could allow the Fusion to live on in a new form.
The plan that’s being considered for the Fusion is to build it as a sport wagon that could be made to look and act like the former Subaru Outback models. This can be accomplished by lifting the vehicle a few inches, adding AWD to the lineup, and deleting the trunk in favor of a rear hatch. These changes would be fairly easy and a new Ford Fusion built in this manner could easily ride on the same platform that’s used right now for the current model. If this were to happen, we would see the Fusion name continue to live on.
What Does This New Plan Mean for the Lineup
Does keeping the Fusion name around as an active sport wagon mean Ford lied to us? Not at all, this will be a different car and it wouldn’t be a sedan, but a wagon and only be offered as a wagon. As other automakers have turned to these types of cars for the market, and have had success with them, it seems like it’s time for Ford to do the same and add a new sport wagon to the mix. The Fusion is the right choice for its size and build.
The only drawback to building the new Fusion as a sport wagon is that it may compete with the Ford Escape and attract some of the same customers. That’s a good problem to have because either way, the customer is looking at a Ford model as the one they can choose for the drive. If this change takes place we’ll get to see at least two of the Ford names we know and love continue on as models that can be enjoyed in future years. We’ll know more as we come closer to the end of the current Fusion in 2021.
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