From the neon-drenched beaches of Miami and the hipster enclaves in New York, to the high-tech castles in San Francisco and the studio lots of Hollywood, the Ford Fusion is experiencing a coastal market surge in popularity.
Nationwide, sales of the Aston Martin-esque Fusion made up 71 percent of all sales for the Blue Oval last month, with huge gains found on the East and West coasts ranging from 62 percent in Miami to 77 percent in Los Angeles.
The reason? Style, style, style. Aside from goodies such as touchscreen and voice-activated controls and various types of horsepower under the hood, the Fusion’s luxury looks are attracting buyers who would normally be found shopping for clothes at Zara and smartphones at their nearest Apple Store. Further, some of these same buyers are trading in their Toyotas and Hondas just to be seen in something hipper than a cheap toaster, a fact not lost on Ford.
Thus, the automaker opened a second factory to meet demand in Flat Rock, Mich. this past August, allowing for more than 400,000 Fusions to be screwed together annually while putting pressure on Toyota’s best-seller Camry, a title the latter has held for the past 11 years with 460,000 units made per year.
Paired with the decision by Consumer Reports last mont to strip the Camry of its recommended status due to failing new crash tests administered by the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety, the Fusion could claim 12 percent of the mid-sized car market by the end of 2013 according to analysts at LMC Automotive, up from 10 percent a year ago.