Ford Motor Co., after losing a naming rights battle with auto parts chain Pep Boys, seller of Futura brand tires, has renamed its upcoming midsized sedan “Fusion,” company sources told The Detroit News.
The automaker has been quietly telling dealers of the change and is expected to reintroduce the car as early as this week.
Ford announced the Futura name at the 2003 New York International Auto Show, explaining the five-seat sedan is aimed squarely at midsize sedans such as Toyota Camry.
In April, a federal court ruled Philadelphia-based Pep Boys had a better claim to the moniker. Last year, Ford also lost the right to call its 500-horsepower supercar the GT40 when a vehicle-kit maker stepped forward with the same label. A newly named Ford GT launches this summer.
The Fusion name fits in with the Ford brand’s strategy of beginning the names of its cars, minivans and crossover vehicles with the letter F. The Mustang and GT sports cars are the exceptions.
The Fusion will arrive in showrooms next year.
__________________
Stacy94PGT
My first car was a 67 Mustang Coupe, 2nd one was a 67 Cougar XR-7, 3rd one was a 66 Mustang Coupe. Why did I get rid of these cars for ? I know why, because I'm stupid, stupid, stupid.
DETROIT -- Ford Division will borrow a name from Europe for a new mid-sized sedan for North America.
The sedan, built on a modified Mazda6 platform, will be called the Ford Fusion, Ford spokesman Jon Harmon says.
It will go on sale in late summer 2005. The Fusion will be built in Hermosillo, Mexico.
The company had planned to call it the Futura, but the Pep Boys chain of parts stores uses the name for a line of tires.
In Europe, the Ford Fusion is a small wagon based on the Ford Fiesta car.
The Fusion in North America will fit between the Focus and the Five Hundred, a sedan due in showrooms this fall. The Taurus will be phased out, possibly as early as mid-2005, says an industry source.
The Fusion in North America will be the first of up to 10 Mazda6-based vehicles the company is developing for the Ford, Mercury and Lincoln brands.
A gasoline-electric hybrid version of the Fusion is expected in 2007. Ford's modified Mazda6 platform is called CD3.
Ford Division has decided to start each car name with the letter F.
__________________
Stacy94PGT
My first car was a 67 Mustang Coupe, 2nd one was a 67 Cougar XR-7, 3rd one was a 66 Mustang Coupe. Why did I get rid of these cars for ? I know why, because I'm stupid, stupid, stupid.
__________________
Stacy94PGT
My first car was a 67 Mustang Coupe, 2nd one was a 67 Cougar XR-7, 3rd one was a 66 Mustang Coupe. Why did I get rid of these cars for ? I know why, because I'm stupid, stupid, stupid.
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, Wade 1636, Pacemaker PH4480s, HF Cat, Cat-Back 2 1/2" Mandrel Bent Lukey Zorst, Car-puter, XR Front and AUII Clear Side Indicators.
Dull Alloy factory mags, ooo yeah.
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