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February 25, 2006

That New Car Smell, Part Four

After lunch today at The Spot out in Golden, I took the family up Lookout Mountain* in the new Ford Fusion SEL. The handling was sure and confident; the power was plenty for the inclines; and I didn't much miss the days of taking the Mazda up the mountain.

Now, you're not going to mistake the Fusion for a high-performance touring car, as it is a sedan at heart, but auto technology has come some distance since my last new car purchase in 1996 (I hear that PCs are faster now too - and that you can get magic pictures on a shiny box in your family room). So, now the Fusion has seen city driving, highway driving, and mountain driving, and handled all of them just fine... what's left?

I'm thinking maybe a bit of undersea driving.

Although it might void the warranty.

More good news on the Ford Fusion Front:

Meanwhile, Ford's intermediate-size Fusion sold 9,999 units in January, more than double October's total, giving it a 5.08 percent share of the hotly contested midsize premium market that includes the Toyota Camry, Honda Accord and Chevrolet Impala, the perennial sales leader in the segment.

I still think Ford is pushing the car to the wrong audience, painting it as some sort of sporty, jazzy, funkafied** cruiser, when - like I said - it's a sedan; but maybe enough of us late-20 and early-30-somethings with kids are seeing it for what it is and liking what we see.

I know I do.

* Want to see a picture of the view from up there? Ahhh, smog!

** Yes, I said "funkafied." No, I don't know if it's a word.