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Ford Drops 325HP Fusion Sport


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Well like they said 2020 is the last year for the Fusion so there probably won't be a lot of enthusiasts buying this model. The vast majority of Fusions are sold with the 4 cyl or Hybrid options so offering the V6 probably is hardly worth it. I still maintain it's foolish dropping the Fusion right now with it still doing well in the sedan market, but whatever.

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12 minutes ago, 2005Explorer said:

Well like they said 2020 is the last year for the Fusion so there probably won't be a lot of enthusiasts buying this model. The vast majority of Fusions are sold with the 4 cyl or Hybrid options so offering the V6 probably is hardly worth it. I still maintain it's foolish dropping the Fusion right now with it still doing well in the sedan market, but whatever.

Except they've extended it to 2023 according to a Ford zone rep.

I don't understand why people think something is "doing well" just because it has good sales numbers.  There is no way Ford is making money on Fusions right now.

GM was #1 in sales but losing billions per year before bankruptcy.  Ford was in nearly the same boat.  Sales without profit is a failure unless you're Tesla.

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43 minutes ago, akirby said:

Except they've extended it to 2023 according to a Ford zone rep.

I don't understand why people think something is "doing well" just because it has good sales numbers.  There is no way Ford is making money on Fusions right now.

GM was #1 in sales but losing billions per year before bankruptcy.  Ford was in nearly the same boat.  Sales without profit is a failure unless you're Tesla.

Ford didn't help matters by letting the car go too long without a complete makeover. People who fork over money for the top-of-the-line (and more profitable) models expect fresh sheet metal. They don't want a car that looks like the one their neighbor bought five years ago.

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Honestly, bad decisions and bad timing for the Fusion. If the 8 speed would have been ready in 2017 for roll out that would have been ideal. Nope! Strike 1. If they actually did more of a refresh than changing the headlights and shifter nob. Nope! Strike 2. In regards to the sport, actually tried to lighten it up a bit and put a little more Sport in it. Nope! Strike 3.

The Sport has the power to be a good car. Trans is a little iffy (maybe the tuning could change a bit). It's heavy and in order to get real handling returns, the aftermarket is the best bet. Good initial thought but half baked for the price. This coming from a guy who had a 3.0 MKZ and has driven the Sport many times.

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7 minutes ago, grbeck said:

Ford didn't help matters by letting the car go too long without a complete makeover. People who fork over money for the top-of-the-line (and more profitable) models expect fresh sheet metal. They don't want a car that looks like the one their neighbor bought five years ago.

True but I don't think Titaniums were selling that well even before 2017.   I think most of those buyers moved to Edge or Explorer.

There is no doubt it would be a lot more competitive with new sheetmetal and a new tranny.

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1 hour ago, akirby said:

Except they've extended it to 2023 according to a Ford zone rep.

I don't understand why people think something is "doing well" just because it has good sales numbers.  There is no way Ford is making money on Fusions right now.

GM was #1 in sales but losing billions per year before bankruptcy.  Ford was in nearly the same boat.  Sales without profit is a failure unless you're Tesla.

Well if it’s losing millions for them like you continue to claim I doubt they would have extended it to 2023. Lower cost Mexican labor coupled with tooling that’s long paid for I doubt the Fusion is losing money for them. The Taurus and Focus on the other hand likely were money pits. Yes at some point a redesign would be required, but who knows what the market will be like in 2023. We could be in a middle of a recession and those $70k plus trucks and SUVs that you love so much could be collecting dust on dealer’s lots. What happens then? Are you a Ford employee? If so do you have the actual internal numbers on the Fusion. Fusion is one of the more respected nameplates Ford has and to dump it is a mistake IMHO.

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1 minute ago, 2005Explorer said:

Well if it’s losing millions for them like you continue to claim I doubt they would have extended it to 2023. Lower cost Mexican labor coupled with tooling that’s long paid for I doubt the Fusion is losing money for them. The Taurus and Focus on the other hand likely were money pits. Yes at some point a redesign would be required, but who knows what the market will be like in 2023. We could be in a middle of a recession and those $70k plus trucks and SUVs that you love so much could be collecting dust on dealer’s lots. What happens then? Are you a Ford employee? If so do you have the actual internal numbers on the Fusion. I know you’re hungry to get this model killed off ASAP, but this is one of the more respected nameplates Ford has and to dump it in is a mistake IMHO.

The Fusion name almost definitely won't be going anywhere. The Fusion just will just take another shape.

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42 minutes ago, 2005Explorer said:

We could be in a middle of a recession and those $70k plus trucks and SUVs that you love so much could be collecting dust on dealer’s lots. 

Still have Ecosports, Escapes and Bronco Scouts that are "affordable" with starting prices under 30K

If anything, people who can't afford a car then won't get one and will hold off unless they really need to and people who can't will buy used. Its not like this didn't happen before and its not like Focus or other small cars saw major sale increases during the great recession. 

Gas pricing isn't as big of a deal-you don't see a huge cost savings going from 20-30 MPG or so, like you do from going from 15 to 20. The difference in gas between an Ecosport and Fiesta a year is $285 at $2.80 gas. 

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1 hour ago, 2005Explorer said:

Well if it’s losing millions for them like you continue to claim I doubt they would have extended it to 2023. Lower cost Mexican labor coupled with tooling that’s long paid for I doubt the Fusion is losing money for them. The Taurus and Focus on the other hand likely were money pits. Yes at some point a redesign would be required, but who knows what the market will be like in 2023. We could be in a middle of a recession and those $70k plus trucks and SUVs that you love so much could be collecting dust on dealer’s lots. What happens then? Are you a Ford employee? If so do you have the actual internal numbers on the Fusion. Fusion is one of the more respected nameplates Ford has and to dump it is a mistake IMHO.

No I don't work for Ford but what do you think the net profit margin is on Fusion considering the company as a whole (and most other US companies) are in single digit profit percentages?  And considering that F Series is so high that it skews the other numbers?   I think 5% is very generous.   5% of a $25K vehicle is $1250.  How do you throw $3500 cash on the hood and still make money?   I'm talking net profit not gross profit - net profit includes engineering, marketing, etc. not just manufacturing.

If people were still buying $35K Titaniums with small rebates they can make money, but not selling S and SEs with $3500 rebates.   They are pushing more hybrids and PHEVs which help and MKZ probably still makes a decent profit even at lower volumes.   And they don't have anything else to put in Hermosillo right now.   It's also possible they changed their mind on killing it and will be announcing a replacement soon.

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10 minutes ago, silvrsvt said:

Still have Ecosports, Escapes and Bronco Scouts that are "affordable" with starting prices under 30K

If anything, people who can't afford a car then won't get one and will hold off unless they really need to and people who can't will buy used. Its not like this didn't happen before and its not like Focus or other small cars saw major sale increases during the great recession. 

Gas pricing isn't as big of a deal-you don't see a huge cost savings going from 20-30 MPG or so, like you do from going from 15 to 20. The difference in gas between an Ecosport and Fiesta a year is $285 at $2.80 gas. 

Maybe the smaller car sales didn’t see major increases in sales during the Great Recession, but I do remember quite well that mid-sized and large SUVs fell off the cliff and hit rock bottom during this time. Ford is going to have to do better then the current EcoSport if they expect people to pay MSRP for high trim levels. The new Escape should do ok in it’s class, but it’ll always be playing second fiddle to the RAV4 and CR-V. Those things fly off the lots with little incentives. The new Escape is a lot nicer vehicle, but as the value proposition gets worse compared to it’s popular competitors it’ll remain to be seen exactly how well it does. It’s only common sense that less profit is made on small vehicles so volume does matter in these mainstream segments.

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I'm surprised there's a 2020 Fusion.

Maybe prime motivators are dealers complained that some Ford buyers don't want SUVs, nothing inexpensive to sell (as someone mentioned the Focus was expensive to make in the US and same with the Taurus with an old platform) and FCA, GM still continues Malibu and Charger. Will it be a redesign soon?.

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1 hour ago, 2005Explorer said:

Maybe the smaller car sales didn’t see major increases in sales during the Great Recession, but I do remember quite well that mid-sized and large SUVs fell off the cliff and hit rock bottom during this time. Ford is going to have to do better then the current EcoSport if they expect people to pay MSRP for high trim levels. The new Escape should do ok in it’s class, but it’ll always be playing second fiddle to the RAV4 and CR-V. Those things fly off the lots with little incentives. The new Escape is a lot nicer vehicle, but as the value proposition gets worse compared to it’s popular competitors it’ll remain to be seen exactly how well it does. It’s only common sense that less profit is made on small vehicles so volume does matter in these mainstream segments.

Don’t understand this, had a  RAV as a rental for a month, it was not as nice as our Escape. Not as quiet and not as quick. Would never pick it over the escape 

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19 minutes ago, pictor said:

Don’t understand this, had a  RAV as a rental for a month, it was not as nice as our Escape. Not as quiet and not as quick. Would never pick it over the escape 

The Japanese products have blind loyalty following even if/when they're not as good as the competition.

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24 minutes ago, pictor said:

Don’t understand this, had a  RAV as a rental for a month, it was not as nice as our Escape. Not as quiet and not as quick. Would never pick it over the escape 

Was it the old one or new one? New ones I've had for rentals are actually really nice. That and the Forester are probably the best rentals I get in that class, the old one however was really bad. Have a Blazer this week, drives really nice but the interior is mid 90's GM at its finest and is a little spartan on features even for a rental car trim level.

I still like the Fusion Hybrid rental, drives nice and gets good mileage.  

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2 hours ago, 2005Explorer said:

Ford is going to have to do better then the current EcoSport if they expect people to pay MSRP for high trim levels. 

There should be some sort of replacement for the EcoSport or an additional product showing up before 2022 or so that will address that. 

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1 hour ago, jasonj80 said:

Was it the old one or new one? New ones I've had for rentals are actually really nice. That and the Forester are probably the best rentals I get in that class, the old one however was really bad. Have a Blazer this week, drives really nice but the interior is mid 90's GM at its finest and is a little spartan on features even for a rental car trim level.

I still like the Fusion Hybrid rental, drives nice and gets good mileage.  

2019-Toyota-RAV4-XSE-Hybrid-side.jpg

yep, I think the rav4 xse hybrid is the best looking in the segment right now, and it also gets 41 mpg. If the bronco scout doesn’t work out, this will probably be at the top of my list.

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4 hours ago, 2005Explorer said:

Well if it’s losing millions for them like you continue to claim I doubt they would have extended it to 2023. Lower cost Mexican labor coupled with tooling that’s long paid for I doubt the Fusion is losing money for them. The Taurus and Focus on the other hand likely were money pits. Yes at some point a redesign would be required, but who knows what the market will be like in 2023. We could be in a middle of a recession and those $70k plus trucks and SUVs that you love so much could be collecting dust on dealer’s lots. What happens then? Are you a Ford employee? If so do you have the actual internal numbers on the Fusion. Fusion is one of the more respected nameplates Ford has and to dump it is a mistake IMHO.

I'm sure the tooling for the Taurus was paid for ages ago too, if nothing else that platform was paid for on the back of the Explorer alone. Same with Focus, I'm pretty sure a lot of the underbody parts were shared with the Escape. 

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