DEARBORN, Mich. — Ford hopes the redesigned Fusion will finally trounce the Camry.
The Fusion has become Ford’s best-selling car since it went on sale in 2005, and it’s one of the top sellers in the country. But Ford hopes the sexier styling, improved fuel economy and features such as automatic parallel parking on the 2013 version will help it pass the perennial leader, the Toyota Camry.
Ford enlisted “American Idol” host Ryan Seacrest to introduce the redesigned sedan alongside chief executive Alan Mulally in New York’s Times Square on Tuesday. It also is holding events in Los Angeles, Miami and San Francisco, and on the lawn of its Dearborn headquarters.
The publicity blitz underscores the importance of the Fusion to Ford, which is rolling out the car to U.S. dealerships later this month. The midsize car segment is the biggest in the U.S., making up half of all car sales so far this year. It’s also one of the most hotly contested. Three of the Fusion’s biggest rivals — the Honda Accord, Nissan Altima and Chevrolet Malibu — are also new this fall.
