Team-BHP - Ford Fusion a superhatch before its prime?

Ford Fusion when launched some years ago was touted by many as a car which falls in neither segment. Now There are cars selling for the same price competing for the same segment which Fusion never really created. But from my last test drive of the Fusion petrol and Diesel this is what I found.

Bigger car, better engines, decent interiors, lots of storage space, huge boot and better capability on our roads.

The big question now is, Does it make a compelling case for Fusion+ with ABS and EBD, 15" alloys and height adjutable seats compared to the Fabia's, Jazz's and I20's? Lets not forget the 2 years of maintaince contract Ford throws in along with 24-hour roadside assistance program.

Doesnt it fulfill the requirements as a super hatch the most? Is anybody even looking at this car?

Yes, it still does.
It not only offers the most space, but comes with most of the features, lots of driver appeal, powerful petrol and diesel engines.
Most of the new premium hatches have major shortcomings in terms of performance and space, specially in comparison to the Fusion. I for a fact would love to replace our fiesta with a fusion.
The i20 is too overpriced, the Punto has poor performance, the U-VA too outdated, the Jazz too expensive, and the Fabia is a Skoda!
A cut price Fusion would be perfect.

@amit V8: The American Fusion is a completely different vehicle than the European one. In America, the fusion is similar to the Mondeo in Europe.

Quote:

Originally Posted by lamborghini (Post 1379404)

Most of the new premium hatches have major shortcomings in terms of performance and space, specially in comparison to the Fusion. I for a fact would love to replace our fiesta with a fusion.
The i20 is too overpriced, the Punto has poor performance, the U-VA too outdated, the Jazz too expensive, and the Fabia is a Skoda!
A cut price Fusion would be perfect.

.

Performance means what ? Only 0-100KM time ,which is a good indicator of pulling power but not generally used by common people except spirited (literally)enthusiast. Even that may not be much different from GP. How about other things like handling, body roll and very important FE ?

@sanagg: what I mentioned above was only about the major downsides faced by other cars too.

The Punto is a stunner to look at, with very good ride and handling, FE, features, etc.
However, the performance is quite poor and I don't only mean 0-100. I have read reports that the Punto is slow from the start which would impact its performance in the city, making it a pain to drive in traffic.

1) Ford Fusion has a good advantage as compared to others, but it loses on FE, a parameter that is critical for a hatch IMHO. The petrol motor is too large to be driven in Indian cities that are becoming epitome of indiscipline driving.

2) The latest entrants in the hatchback segment are quite strong. They too come with diesel motors and pack in quite a punch in both petrol and diesel formats. Ritz and I20 are good examples. I am not counting great for GP because the A.S & S. is managed by tata, a manufacturer who is not able to provide good A.S & S. for tata cars, let alone Fiat. Simply put they dont have knowledgeable staff and infrastructure to match with the cars.

3) Here is why I have voted for Ritz. Since we are talking about practicality, Ritz is the one that offers quite a good range of motors, is relatively less expensive to buy and maintain, A.S & S. is good and wide spread, FE is good, GC is good, decent space for its size and peace of mind factor coming in to seal the deal.

4) Fusion is basically an excellent higway car with good seating position and ability to handle bad roads better than some sedans. The diesel motor is not sufficient to keep up high speeds, but petrol motor is nice to drive on the highways. The available space can be used well. IMHO, its dated and ford A.S & S. + resale value puts it down. Looks also might have played a role in failure of this model. Reason why Suzuki did not come up with SX4 hatch as this segment is not mature enough.

I do not really know which is the most logical / practical hatch for the price etc etc.

I always liked the Fusion for its features and practicality though at the time I was in the market for a car, I really could not afford the Fusion. It will be ahead of its time for sure like a lot of cars that have gone to the grave without much market success.

I have voted for the Jazz btw.

Quote:

Originally Posted by lamborghini (Post 1379404)

Yes, it still does.
The i20 is too overpriced, the Punto has poor performance, the U-VA too outdated, the Jazz too expensive, and the Fabia is a Skoda!
A cut price Fusion would be perfect.

A lot of people think that i20 (or Fabia) is expensive.

What do these cars provide over Fusion+ TDCi?
1. Automatic Climate Control
2. 2 or 6 Airbags
3. Fabia's build quality ROCKS
4. Steering Mounted Controls
5. Projector Headlamps (Fabia)
6. Electrically foldable/adjustable ORVMS
7. Good quality Stereo with 4-6 speakers and additional two tweeters
8. Cooled Glove boxes

These are just some of the features that come to my mind (I am comparing only the top end versions)

After recent price cuts from dealers for the Fabia diesel, Fabia is priced almost same as i20 CRDi (8.0L for Fabia Ambiente - 8.15 for i20 Asta, 8.59 for Fabia Elegance vs 8.53 for i20 Asta(O))

Ford Fusion is priced @ 8.2L OTR. You decide!

PS:- I've ignored Skoda A.S.S for the discussion. We all know how bad it is.

The only reasons I didn't buy Fusion is due to the lack of airbags and high price - its got everything else one needs - good GC, drivability, interior space etc

One thing I'm sure of - if Ford had put the 1.4 petrol in the Fusion, they would've saved some manufacturing cost and tax cost for an engine that's more than 1.5 liters. That would've brought the price to much saner levels - perhaps 6.0 ex-showroom delhi for the Fusion plus 1.4 petrol.