CROSSOVER
OF A NEW KIND
Crossovers
are vehicles that blur the differentiation between off-road and on-road
vehicles, but the Ford Fusion has no pretensions of the former kind.
What it does though is to combine SUV styling with the make-up of
a hatchback and the utility of an MPV to provide what Ford calls an
urban activity vehicle. The Fusion is a bold step in the right direction,
feels Yogendra Pratap who had a week of unlimited fun with it, both
in Pune city and on the highways around it.
It
was high time that Ford India expanded its product portfolio and
increased the spread of its products with the ageing Ikon not being
able to carry the company by itself and the Endeavour and the Mondeo
being relatively low volume products. We expected and wanted Ford
India to move below the Ikon and offer a product that could be used
as a stepping stone to the Ikon and when we saw the camouflaged
Fusion undergoing testing, we thought that our wishes were being
fulfilled. That, however seems not to be the case as the Fusion,
in all likelihood will be placed above the Ikon, something for the
Ikon owners to graduate to.
But
does the Fusion, which is essentially a hatchback, its SUV type
of styling and 15-inch wheels not withstanding, measure up to the
lofty heights that Ford India has put it at? Nearly a thousand kilometres
with the car being put through the gruelling OVERDRIVE road test
ought to allay all fears. Read on for the nitty gritties...
November
2004