The European Ford Fusion is a car manufactured and marketed by
Ford Europe
Ford of Europe GmbH is a subsidiary company of Ford Motor Company founded in 1967 in Cork, Ireland, with headquarters in Cologne, Germany.
History
Ford of Europe was founded in 1967 by the merger of Ford of Britain, Ford Germany, and Irish Hen ...
from 2002 to 2012 across a single generation. It has a high roof, five-door, five-passenger, front-wheel-drive,
mini MPV
Mini MPV— an abbreviation for mini multi-purpose vehicle— is a vehicle size class for the smallest size of minivans/MPVs. The mini MPV size class sits below the compact MPV size class and the vehicles are often built on the platforms of B- ...
design and is described in the motor industry as being part of the
B-segment
The B-segment is the second smallest of the European segments for passenger cars between the A-segment and C-segment, and commonly described as "small cars". The B-segment is the largest segment in Europe by volume, accounting for 20 percent of ...
.
Sharing its platform with the
Ford Fiesta
The Ford Fiesta is a supermini car marketed by Ford since 1976 over seven generations. Over the years, the Fiesta has mainly been developed and manufactured by Ford's European operations, and has been positioned below the Escort (later the ...
supermini,
the Fusion was longer, wider and taller than the Fiesta — with high
h-point seating,
rear 'theatre-style' and 60/40 folding rear seats, fold-flat front passenger seat and a load floor flush with the cargo sill.
Ford marketed the Fusion as an 'Urban Activity Vehicle',
its ''Fusion'' nameplate referring to its combination of small hatchback, MPV and SUV design features: economical operation from its B-class underpinnings;
enhanced maneuverability from its four-metre footprint as well as enhanced roominess, accessibility, passenger and cargo volume from its tall configuration — but notably without all-wheel drive.
Having debuted initially as a concept at the 2001
Geneva Auto Show
The Geneva International Motor Show is an annual auto show held in March in the Swiss city of Geneva. The show is hosted at the Palexpo, a convention centre located next to the Geneva Cointrin International Airport. The Salon is organised by th ...
and in production form at the same show and one year later, Fusion sales launched in late 2002.
The Fusion was manufactured at Ford's
Cologne-Niehl assembly and exported to more than 50 countries, including Angola, Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, and South Africa.
Beginning in November 2005, Ford marketed a mildly
facelifted Fusion with revised front and rear lights, bumper fascias, side mouldings, door mirrors, brighter exterior color palette, revised interior design with 'soft touch' materials and revised analogue instrument display.
Ford of Brazil and a number of Latin American countries marketed a
crossover SUV
A crossover, crossover SUV, or crossover utility vehicle (CUV) is a type of automobile with an increased ride height that is built on unibody chassis construction shared with passenger cars, as opposed to traditional sport utility vehicles ( ...
variant as the
Ford EcoSport
The Ford EcoSport (pronounced ) is a subcompact crossover SUV (B-segment) manufactured by Ford. The first-generation model was developed and built in Brazil by Ford Brazil since 2003, at the Camaçari plant. The second-generation model was laun ...
with revised styling and increased ground clearance for light off-roading.
The Fusion received a four-star NCAP crash safety rating and was succeeded in September 2012 with the
B-Max.
Equipment
Options included power-folding mirrors, automatic and 'home safe' headlights, automatic windscreen wipers,
Bluetooth
Bluetooth is a short-range wireless technology standard that is used for exchanging data between fixed and mobile devices over short distances and building personal area networks (PANs). In the most widely used mode, transmission power is limi ...
with voice control, trip computer, MP3 player connectivity, and the Electronic Stability Program. In the United Kingdom, the car was available in Style+, Zetec and Titanium trim levels. (1, 2, 3, and '+' were the trim levels for the original Fusion).
Equipment on the entry-level ''1'' included central locking and dual front airbags. The ''2'' featured electric heated mirrors, electric front windows, a CD player, and air conditioning. The ''3'' added alloy wheels, front fog lights, and an alarm. The + model, introduced in June 2003 added larger alloys and privacy glass.
Technical data
References
External links
Official website (Ford UK)(archived)
{{Ford Motor Company vehicles
Fusion
Fusion, or synthesis, is the process of combining two or more distinct entities into a new whole.
Fusion may also refer to:
Science and technology Physics
*Nuclear fusion, multiple atomic nuclei combining to form one or more different atomic nucl ...
Euro NCAP small MPVs
Mini MPVs
Ford B3 platform
Front-wheel-drive vehicles
2010s cars
Cars introduced in 2002