Americans love their trucks, SUVs and crossovers with combined sales of all light duty trucks accounting for 52% of sales in 2014. Despite that seeming preference for high-riding vehicles, nearly eight million new cars hit the road last year and among those midsize sedans continue to the biggest share of sales. For more than a quarter of a century, the top-selling car in America has been either the Ford Taurus, Honda Accord and of course the Toyota Camry which has led the way since 1997. Ford launched the second-generation Fusion Into that fray in late 2012 in the hopes of grabbing a larger piece of this lucrative pie. Now approaching the mid-way point of its lifecycle I recently spent a week with Fusion to see if it’s still a strong contender in the segment.
Disclosure: I worked in the Ford Content Factory (yes that was actually the name of the team of writers, designers and videographers I was a member of) from the fall of 2011 to mid-2014 where I produced media materials for a number of Ford products and technologies. I wrote many of the press releases for the Fusion from its reveal at the 2012 Detroit Auto Show through its sales launch in the fall. I left Ford in mid-2014 to join Navigant Research as a Senior Analyst.
Since going on sale in late 2012, the second-generation Fusion has been a big success for Ford. Sales have climbed from 248,000 in 2011 to nearly 307,000 in 2014. Despite that growth, the Camry and Accord have continued to hang onto the top slots in the midsize segment and Nissan has jumped into a solid third place with the very capable Altima with Fusion about 30,000 sales behind last year.
Until the past five years or so, design has largely been an afterthought in this segment. Throughout most of its history, the best you could say about a Camry’s design was “what design?” These cars tended to be bland to the point of invisibility. The original Fusion brought some hints of visual excitement with the debut of Ford’s three-bar grille but the rest of the car was kind of dull. The 2010 Hyundai Sonata finally brought some real flair to midsize sedans and the second-generation Fusion took it to a whole new level.
The new Fusion marked the debut of the “new face of Ford” starting with a grille that bore an uncanny resemblance to those that you would find on a vastly more expensive Aston Martin. The long slim headlamps flow back into sharply sculpted and creased body-sides. The greenhouse features the now ubiquitous “coupe-like” profile, flowing back into a nice tight rear end.
Three years on, the only thing Ford has changed visually has been an annual shuffling of available colors and wheel designs but this is still among the most handsome mainstream sedans on the road. What started off as a surprisingly elegant design for the segment has aged quite well although we can probably expect to see a mid-cycle refresh by next year. It will be very interesting to see Ford will evolve the look that has been proliferating through the rest of the lineup since the Fusion launched.
The Fusion I drove was the mid-level SE trim which as with most cars is the most popular variant. The Fusion SE offers four powertrain choices starting with the old-school 2.5-liter four-cylinder and topping out with the 2.0-liter EcoBoost driving either the front or all four wheels. In between lies the 1.5-liter EcoBoost which replaced the 1.6-liter version last year. Despite the reduction in displacement, the 1.5 has roughly the same output as its predecessor, generating 181-horsepower and 185 lb.-ft. of torque.
The 1.5 was the first of Ford’s second-generation EcoBoost engines featuring updates such as a new cylinder head with an integrated exhaust manifold that helps preserve the energy getting to turbo and reduce lag. At launch, the 1.6-liter EcoBoost was available with either a manual or automatic six-speed transmission. For 2014, the 1.6 remained available with the manual only while the 1.5 got the automatic. As a result of the continuing apathy of American drivers toward manuals, the Fusion has dropped out of the three-pedal club, leaving the Mazda6 and VW Passat as the only real competitors with a stick.
When it debuted, Ford spent a lot of time promoting it as the “smartest” car in the segment thanks to its available suite of advanced driver assist features including adaptive cruise control, active park assist, lane keeping system and blind spot information system with cross-traffic alert. Sadly, my tester was not equipped with any of these automation features. On the plus side this helped keep the price down with a sticker price of just $25,550.
Despite being relatively low on the Fusion equipment scale, this car feels surprisingly premium in a lot of ways. The interior materials and finish are very well executed and are a distinct step up from many cars at this price point even with the cloth upholstery on the seats. The front seats are both very comfortable and supportive even in spirited driving. The sloping roofline that looks so sleek, means that taller passengers getting into the back seat may have to duck a bit while getting in, but once ensconced they will find plenty of head, leg and shoulder room. The only competitor I’ve tried that feels roomier and not by much is the Hyundai Sonata.
On the road, I immediately noticed how quiet the cabin is. With the windows rolled up, Fusion offers the sort of hushed environment that you normally expect in a luxury car. Careful sculpting of the exterior, good sealing and very solid structure all contribute to the serene environment. The only intrusion is when you rev the little turbocharged engine, but even that is far from offensive.
Echoing this level of refinement is the suspension. The Fusion is a prime example of the One Ford philosophy under which the company brought together the best attributes of its vehicles from around the world to create common models for all markets. That means the Fusion is now commonized with the new Mondeo in other parts of the world and it has adopted the much admired driving dynamics of the European designed car.
I drove the Fusion during a particularly nasty February cold snap here in Michigan which means our already crumbling roads get even worse each year. Despite roads that could reasonably described as war-torn, the Fusion melds nimble, well-controlled handling with supple ride quality that lets the wheels follow the contour of road while keeping the body stable. The car never feels floaty yet it doesn’t pound you with road inputs. This SE was rolling on the standard 17-inch wheels which also have a bit more tire sidewall to work with. The optional 18 or 19-inch wheels would probably transmit a bit more of the tortured roads but the fundamental suspension architecture and tuning is so good that ride quality should still be fine.
Purely from a performance perspective, the 1.5-liter and automatic transmission powertrain is more than adequate despite the small size of the engine. Turbo lag when pressing the go pedal was minimal and the gearbox shifted smoothly. Overall performance felt pretty comparable to the Sonata Eco with its 1.6-liter GTDI engine and seven-speed dual clutch gearbox.
Where the Fusion couldn’t match up to the Sonata was on fuel efficiency. When I drove the Sonata in early-January, I managed to squeeze nearly 30 mpg out of it in mixed driving. Temperatures always have an effect on fuel economy, especially when it gets really cold as it did when the Fusion was, but despite that, the 24.5 mpg I saw in the Ford was rather disappointing. Warmer weather would probably bring those numbers up by 2-3 mpg but that’s still shy of the results from the Hyundai or even the Mazda6 that I also drove during unseasonably cold weather.
Overall, the 2015 Ford Fusion is an outstanding car with a design that continues to look modern and upscale even after three years on the road. Drivers that like to take corners in a more spirited fashion will not be disappointed by the Fusion even with the lower-end 17-inch wheels and families of five will have plenty of room for road trips. If you don’t have a desire to be sitting up high, take a look at the Fusion or any of its main competitors and its unlikely you’ll be disappointed. Now if only Ford would offer us the wagon version offered on the Mondeo…
Click here for full specifications of the 2015 Ford Fusion
