Definition of Ford fusion (north american)

The Fusion is manufactured at Ford's Hermosillo Stamping & Assembly plant in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico, where the similar Mercury Milan and Lincoln MKZ are also built. All three cars are based on the same platform and were launched simultaneously into the market (the MKZ as the Zephyr). Production on the first Fusions began on August 1, 2005. The Fusion replaced the Mondeo for the Mexican and Latin American markets, but in the United States and Canada, filled the gap since the discontinuation of the Ford Contour in 2000. It is larger than the defunct Contour, closer to the size of the original 1986 Ford Taurus, an example of the increase in size of cars since the 1980s. It is, however, more in line with the size of its most direct compeditors, the Toyota Camry, Honda Accord, and Hyundai Sonata.