Wednesday, February 18, 2009

A Victory for American Manufacturing

Score one for the Americans, in this case the team at Ford. They've topped Toyota.

What's this, you say, it must be an anomoly. Nay, nay.
The Ford Fusion Hybrid has outperformed the Toyota Prius, the (until now) champion hybrid car. Since it's a foregone conclusion that gas prices won't stay under two bucks forever, the gas/electric pairing is going to be part of our future, sooner or later, and in these dreadful economic days, Ford is a ray of hope for the American future.


Who's made this wild declaration of American superiority, you may ask. USA Today said so, and then Car & Driver magazine did an extensive test and came to the same conclusion.
USA Today said": "OK, let's just get it out there: The 2010 Ford Fusion hybrid is the best gasoline-electric hybrid yet. What makes it best is a top-drawer blend of an already very good midsize sedan with the industry's smoothest, best-integrated gas-electric power system. It's so well-done that you have to look to the $107,000 Lexus LS 600h hybrid to come close."


Then Car & Driver put together a test group of the Toyota Camry hybrid, the Nissan Altima hybrid and the Ford Fusion hybrid. Their statement: "Ford has pulled off a game changer with this 2010 model, creating a high-mpg family hauler that's fun to drive. Nothing about the leather-lined test car, optioned up from its $27,995 base price to $32,555, seemed economy minded except for the mileage readings. On that score, the Fusion topped the others, turning in a 34-mpg score card for the overall 300-mile test run."
At the Pizza Planet, we buy Fusion twin Mercury Milans for part of our fleet vehicles. They''ve been reliable and durable and the drivers like them. Next time around, we'll probably try the hybrid models.

So there.

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