2013 Ford Fusion

A factory-backed body kit by 3dCarbon is now available to Ford Fusion owners who want their car to stand out from the crowd while not being too flashy. The body kit adds a more aggressive front spoiler, side skirts, rear body trim and spoiler that are, in fact, integrated quite nicely into the Fusion's already-comely styling, just as 3dCarbon claims. All Fusions with the kit also receive dual exhaust ports with the stainless-steel exhaust surrounds usually reserved for the Titanium package Fusio

The Ford Fusion may already beat the Toyota Camry in terms of models offered, transaction price and sales increase so far this year, but if the Fusion wants to make a run at the title of best-selling car in the US, Bloomberg reminds us that volume is key. Opening a second production line at the Flat Rock, MI assembly plant will reportedly allow Ford to produce around 350,000 Fusions annually, which compares Toyota's ability to crank out 475,000 Camrys and Honda's capacity to build around 450,000

Two of the hottest-selling cars in America aren't quite as hot as they used to be. The Toyota Camry and Honda Civic are both seeing dealer supplies increase in the face of renewed competition from the much-improved Detroit Three.

The attractive new 2013 Ford Fusion has done wonders for the brand in the highly competitive midsize sedan segment – the vehicle is up nearly 22 percent compared to last year. But that sales momentum may soon hold steady due to low inventory levels of the new Fusion across the United States.

The sixth-generation NASCAR Sprint Cup racecar, which will make its competition debut at the 2013 Daytona 500 this weekend, marks the closest thing to a "stock car" that the sport has seen in more than 20 years. No longer using just stickers to distinguish the different brands, the image above shows the lengths NASCAR and automakers went in order to create a racecar design that more closely resembles the individual cars they represent.

As we told you about before, there were four episodes planned for the Ford Fusion GP campaign in Brazil, and the whole series has now run its course. The Ford ads pit Brazilian Formula One driver Nelson Piquet against English F1 pilot Nigel Mansell driving the new Fusion, the two coming together again after their partnership at the Williams F1 team ended in a miserable state more than 20 years ago.

Consumer Reports has taken aim at at small-displacement, forced-induction engines, saying the powerplants don't manage to deliver on automaker fuel economy claims. Manufacturers have long held that smaller, turbocharged engines pack all power of their larger displacement cousins with significantly better fuel economy, but the research organization says that despite scoring high EPA economy numbers, the engines are no better than conventional drivetrains in both categories. Jake Fisher, director

Ford's Fusion and Fusion Hybrid have both received the highest five-star overall safety rating from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The rating is a big upgrade for the Fusion, which was completely redesigned for 2013. The previous model fell one star short of the top rating, after scoring only three stars in the frontal crash test and four stars in the side crash test and rollover evaluations. The 2013 Fusion received four stars in side crash and rollover testing and a full f

Waiting for a Ford compliment from Consumer Reports these days is like waiting for a low-cost new product from Apple. So we weren't really expecting a glowing review of the 2013 Ford Fusion when CR got its hands on the car. The institute's crew bought three different versions of the Fusion (Hybrid, 1.6-liter EcoBoost and a Titanium with the 2.0-liter EcoBoost) to put through its barrage of tests, and while we aren't too surprised by some of the findings, they're still interesting nonetheless.

Formula One World Champions Nelson Piquet and Nigel Mansell haven't been on good terms since the 1986 season, when Piquet joined Mansell at the Williams team and Piquet spent the year privately fuming about not being granted the status of number one driver. Things only got worse from there – even though Piquet won the title the following year with Williams, still partnered with Mansell, the fuming was a lot less private.

2012 is almost in the books and automakers are spending December gearing up for the 2013 auto show season, which tips off next month at the Detroit Auto Show. Traditionally, the latter opens up with the announcement of the North American Car and Truck/Utility of the Year awards, and this year figures to be no different.

Ford announced today that it has determined the problem and has worked up a fix for the engine fires that have resulted in recalls for 2013 Ford Escape and Fusion models equipped with the 1.6-liter EcoBoost engine. Ford says the fires are being caused by an issue with the cooling system software that fails to properly manage engine temperatures during "unique overheating conditions," which are allowing the engines to get hot enough to start a fire while running. This is the third link to engine

Ford is recalling a total of 19,106 2013 Fusion models for faulty headlights, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The car's low beam headlamp projector coating may not have cured correctly during manufacturing, which may cause haziness over time, dimming the lights. The resulting reduced visibility could cause a crash. Ford will notify affected Fusion owners, and dealers will replace the faulty lamp assemblies free of charge. Expect the recall campaign to begin on De

There are plenty of fans of Tupac Shakur who would have no idea that the rapper who sang "How Do You Want It" and "Str8 Ballin'" could also do a pretty good Langston Hughes with poems like "The Rose that Grew from Concrete." Someone at Ford did, though, and has used the poem from the late West Coast wordsmith to pitch the 2013 Fusion to wider audiences.

Ford has announced a recall of 89,153 vehicles equipped with 1.6-liter EcoBoost four-cylinder engines over the possibility of overheating and, in some instances, fires starting in the engine compartment. The brand new 2013 Fusion accounts for 15,833 of the affected models, the other 73,320 being the 2013 Escape. This is the fourth time the recently launched Escape has been recalled, and this is the third time the recall has involved the 1.6-liter engine.

Ford is getting pretty creative with ad spots for the new 2013 Ford Fusion. After seeing Ford make its rivals disappear, we now get to see it make the new Fusion fly. In a new television commercial called Cliff, the car is shown being driven off the side of a mountain and flying through the air. Instead of relying solely on CGI to make the car fly, Ford threw in some good old-fashioned stunt driving for added realism.

Last year, the Volkswagen Passat 2.5 SE won a Car and Driver comparison test of mid-size sedans, beating the Honda Accord V6 and Hyundai Sonata 2.0T. A couple of months later, the same Passat model won a mid-size comparo from Motor Trend against the Hyundai Sonata GLS and Toyota Camry LE. Earlier this year, the VW won an even larger C/D comparison test, beating the Chevrolet Malibu Eco, Accord EX-L, Sonata SE, Kia Optima EX and Camry SE.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has crushed, mangled and smashed the 2013 Ford Fusion and gives it a coveted Top Safety Pick designation. That's the second Fusion generation in a row given the title.

Ford is unveiling three commercials this week that attempt to show how the new Fusion stands out from the crowd. The first one, called Disappearing, can be watched below.