Ford’s mid-size Fusion, known as the Mondeo in Australia, will be reborn as a Subaru Outback-rivalling high-riding wagon, according to international reports.
Reports out of the USA claim Ford will kill off the slow-selling Fusion in its current body shape as part of the automotive giant’s well publicised plan to focus exclusively on pickups and SUVs (and the Mustang, of course), but the name will live in on in the shape of a new sportwagon that will have Subaru firmly in its sights.
In the USA this year, the Fusion was outsold by the Outback - Subaru’s top-selling model there - for the first time, something that clearly hasn’t gone unnoticed by the top brass in Ford. While they’re yet to comment on the claims, Ford’s US spokesperson Mike Levine said “we’ll likely continue to use the name because of its awareness, positive imagery and value with consumers.”
The question, though, is what that means for the Ford Mondeo. While Australian executives are yet to to confirm the changes, Ford in Australia has already announced it won't be taking the 2019 Ford Fusion, which was updated in North America earlier this year.
And with that update likely to be the last for the Fusion in its current shape, that would leave just Australia and Europe as markets for the current Mondeo sedan and wagon, last updated here in 2017.
But with Mondeo sales slowing in Australia, that would likely be difficult to justify. Ford’s mid-size entrant shifted 1078 units to June 2018, enough to claim third place in its segment, but significantly down on the 1622 sold over the same period last year.
We have contacted Ford for an update.
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