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Ford may have killed off all its sedans and small cars, but somehow the Ford Fusion managed to escape the executioner’s sword for a little longer. By the end of 2020, the Fusion will be one of the last passenger car holdouts in Ford’s increasingly truck- and crossover-centric lineup, and with Dearborn gradually culling its slowest-selling varieties, the sun can already be seen setting on it. The Fusion nameplate, however, will reportedly live on—not on a sedan, but on a station wagon rechristened the Fusion Active to make it more palatable to crossover buyers.
Described by Car and Driver as a mildly lifted version of the Fusion wagon sold outside America as the Mondeo, the Fusion Active will reportedly gain all-wheel drive and don the boilerplate black plastic body cladding CUVs use to trick the brain into seeing more ground clearance than there really is. Think of it being to the current Fusion what the Subaru Crosstrek is to the Impreza, albeit at a size closer to the Outback.
You may recall Ford made a similar move with the smaller Focus Active, only to scuttle a decision to sell it in America over tariff costs. Now it seems Ford is trying again, just with a bigger take on the same idea.
For a powertrain, Ford will reportedly offer the Fusion Active with a 2.0-liter Ecoboost that sends power to all wheels through an eight-speed automatic transmission. A plug-in hybrid (PHEV) version mirroring the current Fusion Energi is also expected to be available, likely near the top end of its anticipated price range of between $30,000 and $40,000. That’d make it a few grand costlier than the similar Subaru Outback at the entry level, though Ford may leverage stronger gas mileage on the hybrid to win over shoppers at higher trim levels.
The Fusion Active will reportedly arrive in American dealerships in late 2021. The Drive contacted Ford to verify rollout plans, and we will update when we receive a comment.
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