Fusion has the looks of a mini-SUV from the front, thanks largely to a blunt nose, and imparts a strong impression of purposefulness. The bonnet line is high more akin to an SUV than a car, with a prominent grille and the twin-compartment lozenge-shaped headlamps which stand out and give the car a rugged look as do the beefy and muscular wheel arches specially with the Mondeo-type treatment which has hints of Ford's new-edge design.

The boxy rear of the vehicle has been 'cubed out' according to the designers at Ford to emphasise its functionality and liberate much needed interior space. The large, vertical tailgate goes down low into a deep rear bumper depression to lower the lift-over height. In fact the tailgate goes down so low that there is no place on the bumper to accommodate the rear number plate which has been housed on the tailgate. A stand-alone, enlarged Ford oval below the ridge and under the tail lamp line adds welcome relief to the wide and plain expanse of the tailgate above the recess for the number plate. A very thoughtful design element is that the tail lamps are mounted vertically, high on the C-pillars so as to stand out in the traffic and increase safety as well as to ensure that they do not get damaged in the bump and grind of normal city traffic or while parking in cramped spaces.

From the side, Fusion's Day Light Opening (DLO) window arrangement has a one-piece appearance, which gives the Fusion a feeling of space and added to the sporty and dynamic roofline give the Fusion a character that is entirely its own. The high shoulder line is pronounced and runs all around the front wheel arches, along the vehicle side and over the rear wheels and enhances the Fusion's presence.

The entire styling exercise would have been defeated had the Fusion sported small wheels. But the 15-inch wheels and P195/60 R15 tyres are standard and stop the SUV cues from looking like a joke played on a small hatchback. The wheel/tyre profile helps convey Fusion's planted stance.

Pretensions and styling apart, make no mistake that the Fusion is a supermini, based on the Fiesta platform, on which the Ikon is also based. It shares the same wheelbase of 2486mm with the Fiesta as well as the Ikon but is longer and appreciably taller than its sibling. Where it most makes its mark is in its width, which at 1721mm (without the rear view mirrors) makes it wider than most C-class cars and in fact wider than even some of the UVs like the Mahindra Scorpio, the Chevrolet Tavera and the Toyota Qualis and puts it in the same class as the Chevrolet Optra. Despite its tall stance, large wheels, high shoulder lines and commanding seating position, the Fusion is not taller than either of the tall boys, the Santro and the Wagon R.

But the best part of the Fusion's SUV pretensions is that it not only tries to look the part, but is also built for the part. The build quality is of a high standard and the use of materials seems as if the car was being built for off-road use rather than on it. Though the shut lines and panel gaps are not as clean as we would have liked them to be, there is not much else that we can find fault with.