2006 Ford Fusion V6 SE

When reporters arrived at Ford's 2006 Fusion press introduction in trendy Santa Monica, CA, the car's name and image were everywhere. Same again at L.A.'s Ford Auditorium, where they gathered for a marketing presentation. When those staying the night reached their hotel after driving the car all afternoon, there it was again, EVERYWHERE—over the hotel entrance, on TV screens in every room, on monitors in the elevators: FUSION. Guess they wanted everyone to remember the name.


Actually, this extremely important new midsize Ford might have been called "Futura," a long-dormant name from Ford's more prosperous past. That was the plan until a company that had licensed the name for a certain aftermarket component refused to release it for an affordable price. Then someone at Ford came up with Fusion—a much better choice, we think.

Styling

Ignoring the obvious nuclear implications, "Fusion" implies a coming together, a blending, and this car certainly is. In size, it fits neatly between the compact Focus and the (near) full-size Five Hundred. In power, it offers a choice of frugal 4-cylinder or more muscular V-6. In architecture, it adds increased stiffness, smoother ride and American character to the well-respected platform of (Ford Japanese partner) Mazda's Mazda6, which will be used for a growing phalanx of new Ford products in the near future.


Fusion is so significant because Ford—which virtually owned the U.S. midsize car market with its best-selling Taurus for many years—hasn't been much of a player lately as the Japanese (primarily Toyota's Camry and Honda's Accord) and, to a lesser degree, Chevrolet's Malibu have taken over. Fusion's critically important mission is to reverse that trend.


Ford Motor Co., in fact, hasn't been competitive for some time in North American passenger cars, preferring instead to concentrate limited resources on increasingly popular and more profitable trucks. Last Year's Five Hundred and its Mercury Montego counterpart marked the beginning of Ford's intensive effort to turn that situation around. Fusion and its Mercury Milan and Lincoln Zephyr counterparts represent the all-important Phase Two.