Ford's new Fusion will borrow heavily from the design cues of the Evos Concept - minus the gullwing doors.
It’s been more than a quarter century since the original Ford Taurus made its debut – the last Detroit sedan to dominate the large and critical midsize market segment. But the number two U.S. maker is hoping to score another home run with the launch of an all-new version of the four-door Fusion at next week’s North American International Auto Show.
While the maker is being tight-lipped with details, the new sedan is already generating quite a buzz, the 2013 Fusion expected to borrow many of the design cues of the Ford Evos Concept first seen at the Frankfurt Motor Show last autumn. Along with cutting-edge styling, the new Fusion is expected to offer luxury-segment technologies – like lane departure warning – at mainstream prices.
Ford won’t be the only domestic maker putting the emphasis on midsize models at the Detroit show, Chevrolet rolling out the production version of its new 2013 Malibu Eco, a “mild” hybrid model getting more than 40 miles per gallon in a segment that has become highly sensitive to mileage.
It’s been years since Detroit’s Big Three have put so much emphasis on passenger cars, in general, and on the huge midsize market, in particular. In the more than quarter century since the introduction of the original Taurus – which spent several years as the best-selling passenger car in the country – the domestic makers have largely focused on more profitable light trucks, ceding control of the midsize segment to import models like the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord.
When sales numbers come out later today, the Toyota Camry is expected to once again be the nation’s best-selling midsize sedan – and top the passenger car list, though Ford’s big F-Series pickup will be the number-one vehicle overall and the best-seller among trucks for the 30th year in a row.
But Camry’s lead will be sharply eroded. It is expected to come in only slightly ahead of the Nissan Altima, with several domestic passenger cars, notably including the outgoing Fusion and Malibu models also closing the gap. The Honda Accord has also slipped precipitously on the sales charts in recent months.
“We see this as a very real opportunity” to take on the Japanese leaders, said Mark Moussa, the chief engineer for the new Chevy Malibu.
While light trucks, like the F-Series and Chevrolet’s big Silverado, still turn in major profits the truck segment is no longer expected to generate the sales volumes seen during the early years of the new Millennium. The crossover and passenger segments are where the real growth opportunities are coming.
The midsize segment, in particular, is a solid bed of demand. It will generate about 2 million sales for all of 2011, according to data from IHS Automotive. That’s down from a peak of 2.45 million in 2007 but midsize sedans and coupes maintain roughly the same share of the overall market.
But not the Japanese. Toyota sold 441,000 Camry models as recently as 2007. That slipped to about 311,000 last year. The Japanese maker downplays the slide, stressing that it had to make significant production cuts as the result of the earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan last March. But even before that Camry’s sales and share were slipping.
Toyota’s factories are now back up to full speed – with the maker promising to go into overdrive in a bid to recover lost ground. But that might not make much of a difference, the HIS forecast for 2012 projecting Camry will remain flat, with sales of only 312,000. And that’s despite the addition of a redesigned 2012 Camry – which has so far received mixed reviews.
As for Accord, sales have also been slipping and should settle in at 270,000 this year, predicts IHS. That would put it neck-and-next with Fusion, which the consulting firm expects to also generate 270,000 sales this year as Ford phases out the old model and introduces the new one later in the year.
The new Chevy Malibu, meanwhile, should generate about 240,000 sales, up from 195,000 in 2011. That’s despite the fact that until later in 2012 Chevrolet will only offer the Eco version of the new Malibu. The mainstream version is on hold while the maker finishes developing an all-new four-cylinder engine for it.
Chrysler sales are also expected to rise, though until it launches a more modern replacement for the current 200 sedan it will likely be an afterthought, most analysts caution.
But Detroit, on the whole, is positioned to largely close the midsize market gap for the first time in decades, says IHS Automotive Research Director Rebecca Lindland, who says that, ironically, the Japanese are experiencing much the same thing that happened to Detroit in years past.
“The Japanese have been dependent on the blind loyalty of the Baby Boomers routinely checking the box for a Camry or Accord every time,” says Lindland. “But (buyers are) discovering there’s a new level of refinement from Detroit and the Koreans while the Japanese are cutting corners as they struggle with containing cost.”
Indeed, Detroit makers aren’t the only ones benefiting from Japan’s decline in the midsize market. Hyundai has seen sales of its Sonata sedan double in recent years, IHS forecasting it will generate 223,000 sales in 2012, while Korean sibling Kia’s new Optima is also showing rapid gains.
So is Volkswagen, which has scored a home run with the newly updated Passat sedan, which is one of three finalists for North American Car of the Year. Tellingly, the new Camry did not make the cut.
The Japanese aren’t giving up without a fight. Honda will unveil an all-new concept version of the Accord Coupe at next week’s Detroit show. And Nissan will introduce replacements for its aging Altima and Sentra models later in the year.
Nissan, normally the quiet member of Japan’s Big Three, actually has reason to crow. It brought production back to normal much quicker than its two chief Japanese competitors last year and is expecting those two midsize sedans to actually achieve double-digit sales gains for 2011. Lindland estimates Altima will further close the gap with Accord and Camry in 2012 with sales of 246,000.
But, on the whole, the seemingly rock-solid grip Japanese marques long held on the midsize segment appears to be loosening. Detroit, newly refocused on the passenger car market, could be positioned to make some major gains as a result.