July 17: Creating an suv

Ford's big recent announcement, that they would all but be getting out of the car business, might come as a shock to the casual reader, but not to all those Ford dealers, who have had Taurus sedans sitting on their lots for months and months (if they even stocked them). What previously had been a steady seller, the Fusion, was on the chopping block as well, crushed under the steamrolling suv charge in the marketplace. Time to free up the dealers' dollars, so they could stock what really sells and that is the aforementioned suv. Time to introduce a new nameplate to the car (I use this term loosely) buying public.

Ford has said they plan to bring out a strong Subaru Outback competitor. Surprise, surprise. But what to call it? Heck, this is easy. Call it the Fusion whatever....the Mallroad, the Lakester or the Allseason, but keep the name that most people recognize - Fusion. At least this is what Ford's dealer body is requesting and it makes a lot of sense. As does an Outback competitor. Heck, what an easy way to increase sales and use an existing station wagon. Sure, over here we don't want to hear that term, but the European Fusion, the Mondeo, has a beauty......

And we all know how easy it is to take an attractive, but slow selling wagon and make it the hottest thing on the showroom floor. Look at what Subaru did many years ago to start this trend........

 Take one station wagon, add some cladding for that go anywhere tough guy image, raise it a bit and maybe throw on a roof rack. Voila'! Like magic the Legacy wagon became the Outback. The darling of the Subaru showroom and thousands upon thousands of happy customers. Money well spent, even before the suv craze hit North America like the Trump presidency (but not in the latter's negative way).

Another early adopter was Volvo, using the exact same formula........

......so the V70 wagon became the Cross Country. Money well spent. Open those flood gates, Sam, as many of the other manufacturers saw the wisdom of these simple additions. Need some examples? Check out these current or soon to be released models from Buick, VW and Mercedes........

The bean counters must have felt they'd died and gone to heaven. A entirely new model for relative pennies. And in the ads, for god's sake, throw something on the roof, in case folks don't immediately get the message.

So, back to Ford and the need to drop a car, while adding an suv. Taking this route, while retaining the popular and familiar Fusion name, looks like a no brainer. Send your guys out to buy some cladding and, well, you know the rest........

Photo courtesy of Autocar

Finally a station wagon, oops, an suv for the Ford dealers' showrooms. And with a name we all know. Whoever knew creating an new suv would be so easy?

Until next time.......