Ford Motor Co. is putting a new face on its NASCAR Nextel Cup entry next year. The automaker is expected to announce as early as this week [Thurs July 14th in Charlotte] that the Ford Fusion will replace the venerable Taurus on North America’s most popular racing circuit, said people familiar with the plan. After 20 years, Ford is pulling the plug on Taurus production early in 2006, and NASCAR rules require that race cars be based on showroom models. The Fusion arrives on dealer lots this fall. Fusion will enter the midsize car segment, where the competition dwarfs even the longtime rivalry between Ford and Chevy on the racetrack. In the midsize car market, it’s Ford vs. Chevy vs. Toyota vs. Honda vs. Nissan. The entry-level midsize car, along with the larger Five Hundred sedan, represents Ford’s latest effort to rebuild passenger car sales. Styling and price are more likely to lure buyers. Ford designed and engineered the Fusion to be more aggressive and nimble than the Taurus. It is priced starting at $17,995. Ford declined comment on specific plans to replace Taurus, promising to unveil details this week. NASCAR entries are subject to strict dimensional guidelines to ensure competitive racing, but to help sell the vehicles, manufacturers take great care to make certain that the cars on the track retain identifiable design cues.(Detroit News), see an image and past news on my Ford News page.(7-11/14-2005)
OFFICIAL: Thirty-eight years. Thats how long its been since Ford introduced an all-new model and went NASCAR racing with that model at the same time. That 1968 car was the Ford Torino, which went on to be a hit in both the marketplace and on the race track. NASCAR Hall of Famer David Pearson took the Torino to championships in both 1968 and 1969. Ford is confident the 2006 Ford Fusion will experience similar success, both on and off the track. Fusions bold, new styling and its dynamic driving personality are very consistent with what you would look for in both a production car and a race car, said Marty Collins, General Marketing Manager, Ford Division. “We believe that Fusion is a car that demands to be noticed, and in a sport like NASCAR, theres going to be millions of race fans tuning in every week who are going to have a great opportunity to see Fusion in a winning situation, and associate that winning with the Ford brand.
Ford believes the demographics of the NASCAR audience and the customer interested in Fusion match up very well. NASCAR fans, and the Fusion customer, both encompass a broad spectrum of America, said Burt Diamond, global marketing manager, Ford Racing Technology. One in three adult Americans consider themselves NASCAR fans, so thats a huge population base that we have to work with in helping Ford Division market the car. We know the NASCAR fan base is more family-oriented, and is becoming more ethnically diverse and more affluent than ever before, so it really makes sense for us to feature this new car among these audiences. The new Fusion production car and the new race version will start appearing together this Saturday when the first of nine Ford Racing Innovation Drives takes place at Kentucky Speedway [hmm…NASCAR gonna love that – lawsuit]. Several thousand consumers will get the first chance to drive the new production Fusion and other Ford products on the Speedway track, while the new NASCAR Fusion, unveiled today in Charlotte, will make its first public appearance at the event.(Ford Racing)(7-14-2005)
