Ford Reporter

At last, Ford announced the new Ford Fusion, a car that looks impressive and is very similar in design with the Ford Mondeo, which is sold in Europe. Actually, starting with the new Ford Fusion both Mondeo and Fusion will have the same platform, and only the name will be different. Ford implemented a new brand for Fusion “The power of choice” and they have prepared for the new Fusion FWD/AWD options, two transmissions, one hybrid version, three gas engines and a plugin-hybrid. Basically, Ford has the most complete offer with this new Fusion.

Vehicles like Kia Optima and Hyundai Sonata demonstrated that a mid-size sedan can be quite modern in design and very popular, and the new Ford Fusion follows the same path. You can see the Kinetic influences from the European Mondeo combined with elements from Aston Martin and Ford Evo Concept. The result is an incredibly good looking car.

The Fusion will be available in three trims: S, SE and Titanium and with three engines: a 2.5 liter 170 hp and 230 nm torques with automatic transmission and 6 speeds,1.6 liter, 4 cylinders EcoBoost 179 hp  and 233 nm torques and the top range engine, a 2.0liter Ecoboost 237 hp and 340 nm torques. Both engines came with the 6 speed automatic gearbox, but you can opt for a manual gearbox for the 1.6 liter engine. FWD came as standard but you can choose AWD for the 2.0liter EcoBoost engine. Like other manufacturers, Ford will make available a V6 engine for the new Fusion.

Fuel economy will also be very good, 6liter/100km on highway versus 9 liter/100km in the city, for the 1.6liter EcoBoost engine, while the 2.0liter should consume 7 liter/100km on the highway and around 10liter/100km in the city. If you want more fuel economy then you can opt for the Energi or the hybrid model.

The Hybrid model is powered by a 2.0liter Atkinson that can develop 185 hp and 176 nm torques. The car has front wheel drive and an electronically variable transmission. Using 17-inch wheels and low-rolling-resistance tires they expect to obtain around 4.9 liter/100km on the highway and 5.4liter/100 km in town. These values beat Toyota Camry Hybrid and Hyundai Sonata Hybrid and are very close to the Prius. Ford Fusion can run up to 95 km/h without using the petrol engine, just with the electric one.

The Fusion Energi is a pure electric car and a petrol engine, for worst cases, with a cruising range of 500 miles. Of course, there is no data regarding charging time, power consumption, etc.

The interior is very elegant and comfortable and, even if it is not as impressive as the interior from Optima or Sonata, it is still very good.

Ford released the first information and photos about EcoSport concept, which will be a SUV vehicle for the city, small class (segment B), built on the same technical platform as the B-Max, the little van that will be produced exclusively in Craiova. Ford announced in 2011 that in Craiova, in addition to B-Max, they will produce another model of class B , which means that the serial version of EcoSport will be produced in future in Romania.

When they will start series production, the EcoSport will be manufactured, for starter,  in India and Brazil. The car will be produced in other plants that will be announced later, according to Ford.

EcoSport Ford is built on the Ford B platform, thus it has the same mechanical base and Fiesta B-MAX. Ford expects to sell two million cars annually built on B.

The EcoSport will be sold in about 100 countries. Ford EcoSport concept debuts as world premiere at the Auto Show in New Delhi, India (January 5 to 11). When launched, EcoSport will compete with Nissan Juke .

Ford EcoSport is equipped with a gasoline engine 1 liter , turbo charged (EcoBoost) , which began to be produced in Germany and will be manufactured in Romania this year.

Autobytel gave awards to two vehicles from Ford based on efficiency, the overall design and the potential of the car to change the game. The awards went to Ford F-150 EcoBoost which is considered the Truck of the Year in US and to the Ford Mustang Boss 302. The F-150 is the best selling pickup car in United States for the last 30 years, so the title is no surprise, especially with the new EcoBoost engines. All editors from Autobytel considered the Ford F-150 EcoBoosts as the best pickup ever and they said about this car that it allows delivering impressive towing capabilities while keeping a low fuel consumption.

Ford Mustang Boss 302 was the second car from Ford to get an award especially due to its V8 5.0-liter engine that can provide a huge amount of adrenaline on the roads. The car get the Sports Car of the Year Title, and is one of the most impressive cars Ford has ever made.

Nissan Leaf and Chevrolet Volt were the best electrical vehicles presented in 2010, and Ford hopes to take the first place in 2011 with the first electric vehicle passenger car ever made by them, the Ford Focus Electric. The Car will debut this year at Consumer Electronics Show and, as the name suggests, it has zero-emissions. The official launch date will be around the end of 2011 in North America and 2013 for the European customers.

They made some improvements to the aerodynamics package, and the car looks even better than before, being somehow similar with Aston Martin. The charging port cannot miss, nor the LEDs above the headlamp.

The electric motor can develop up to 100-Kw, 123 hp and a top of 181 Nm torque. The entire engine is powered by a 23-kWh battery. Accordingly to Ford, the car has a top speed of 135 km/h and the car can travel up to 160Km until it will run out of energy. You can charge the car completely in around 3 hours from a 240-Volt station and in 20 hours from a 120-volt station.

Ford will build the North American version of the new Ford Focus Electric in the Michigan Assembly Plant, while still discussing the place where the Euro version of this car will be built.

After the success Fiesta made in the X Games and in WRC it quite obvious that this car has some rally potential in it and the new R2 Rally tuning kit that will increase the cars horse power from 120 to 168 for the 1.6 liter engine.

Additionally the car will get a new five-speed gearbox with sequential gears,Eibach springs, adjustable dampers from Reiger, roll cage, ventilated disc brakes, new air filter,  camshafts, pistons and injectors.

If you buy the new rally-spec Ford Fiesta then you are eligible to compete in the Fiesta Sport Trophy Championship a division of America National Championship and if you will win the competition you’ll have the chance to go in UK and compete in the Fiesta Sport Trophy International Shootout which can lead to a contract with the BP Ford World Rally team.