Despite pulling almost all of its passenger cars out of the U.S. market, Ford says certain variants of the Fusion sedan will remain in production through 2021, correcting a statement made a couple of days ago.
A Ford spokesperson told Auto News earlier this week that production of the Fusion would end next year. Now, the company has clarified that the most popular variants of the sedan will stick around beyond 2020 while the Fusion Sport will be axed next year.
“Our goal in the final production year is to further simplify the offering and focus on maximizing the more popular SE, SEL, and Titanium models,” Ford said in a statement.
The Fusion Sport was only launched in 2016 and could be viewed as an attempt from the Dearborn car manufacturer to spark life back into the sedan. The car comes standard with a 2.7-liter EcoBoost V6 engine producing an impressive 325 hp and 380 lb-ft (515 Nm) of torque, active dampers and all-wheel drive.
Despite Ford’s best attempts to promote the model, including making it the centerpiece of its 2016 Detroit Auto Show display in an unveiling led by Ryan Seacrest, the Fusion Sport never sold in huge numbers. In fact, it accounts for less than 10 per cent of total Fusion sales. Sales of the entire Ford Fusion range exceeded 300,000 units in the U.S. in both 2014 and 2015 but last year, the car manufacturer was only able to sell 173,600 examples.