26th January, 2012
Ford Motor Co. Chief Executive Officer Alan Mulally has suggested that his stylish new Fusion sedan is seeking sales supremacy over Toyota Motor Corp.’s Camry. That’s not exactly what the boss wants. Ford can’t make enough Fusions to outsell the Camry, the top car for the past decade, according to researcher IHS Automotive. Instead, with Fusion, Mulally is aiming for a balance between commanding top dollar for each car and selling a lot more of them.
“Between price and volume, we’ll sort out the right mix,” Jim Farley, Ford’s global marketing chief, said in an interview. “I don’t think we’re very enamored with being No.1. We’re much more enamored with getting the right price point and the right kind of people to buy the car.”
Toyota will make a strong push this year with its freshly redesigned Camry as the automaker and Honda Motor Co. recover from the Japanese earthquake and tsunami that hobbled production last year. “It’s going to be hard to outsell the Camry,” Jessica Caldwell, sales analyst with Edmunds.com said. “Camry has been on top so long they’ve built up a huge, loyal owner base. Just from the sheer numbers, Camry is hard to beat.”