Watching the NO-Cardinals playoff game, and on comes a Ford commercial. The Ford guy asks a prospective customer, "what is the most fuel efficicient mid-sized car on the market". The answer comes: the Ford Fusion Hybrid. No exaggeration, and I know what i heard. Utter BS. Shame on Ford, for such a misleading commercial.
That is not what Ford says. Ford says "most efficient mid-sized SEDAN". That last word is what the Prius is not. It is how marketing works, for better or for worse. The Ford Fusion hybrid does beat out the Camry hybrid on fuel economy as well as every other mid-size SEDAN. I do love the Ford Fusion hybrid but because it is a sedan I am NOT buying one. I will be buying a 2010 Prius in the next week!
See here. The Prius gets into the midsized category by virtue of 110.6 cubic foot making it by 0.6 cubic feet. Ford really wants to compare the Fusion to the Camry so they might be saying "Most efficient mid-sized sedan" which is truthful as the Prius is a hatchback. I agree that it is misleading and Ford should just come out straight and name the Camry as the "other" car. I do think that the Fusion is a better hybrid than the Camry, although I think the Prius is better than either and that's why I'm driving the Prius. I did test drive the Fusion and it is a fine hybrid car, hands down the next best after the Prius in my view. Rumple
come on, that southwest commercial with the bagage handlers saying they love bag, that's a big lie. They don't mention the Camry because that would drive people to look at it, why should ford pay to advertise that. Plus there is the altima, malibu, hs250 hybrids in the class. I really don't think they are trying to claim its better mileage than the prius or insight. besides it has power seats and fog lamps.
Yeah, I've heard all the Ford spots too and they NEVER say "car" they always say "sedan". And, technically, they're right. I find the current round of Chevy commercials a LOT more deceptive. You'll notice they pick and choose which brand and which vehicles to compare their product line to...and their specs look favorable...however, if they were to toss the Prius into the mix, they'd fall far flat of their goal of looking efficient! It all smells of desparation...if ONLY they'd just make a hybrid that gets 50mpg they wouldn't need to resort to deception and "white lies" in advertising.
Try reading what I said...I said: "Shame on Ford, for such a misleading commercial". It is...very misleading.
I read what you said and it contains an error. Ford is correct in their statement. Ford has NOT lied. Nothing in my statement indicates I did not read your post correctly.
It's misleading...but I think the "sticking point" is actually they define Prius as Mid-Size "hatchback" and The Fusion as a car/sedan. So they think they can get away with that distinction.
I watched the commercial today. It never said the words "made in". It stated "The most fuel efficient mid-sized sedan in America".
The Prius name and it's 50 mpg EPA rating are not exactly obscure. I would not worry too much about it.
Before I got the Prius, I told myself that my next car would be a Hybrid. After that, I was contemplating on a few different models out there......until one day my friend just told me........if you're gonna get a hybrid, GET THE HYBRID THAT GETS THE BEST MPG's.......well that was easy...... I know own a TOYOTA PRIUS. 'Nuf said?'
I felt the same way. If I am going to buy a hybrid, get the one with the best mpg's...and best quality.
Years ago, it was an unwritten rule to never directly mention a competitor in an ad - to do so was considered unprofessional. Which is in the Fusion hybrid's class - the Prius or the hybrid Camry? The hybrid Fusion does get better fuel economy than the hybrid Camry....Toyota's comback would be their Camry is built in Kentucky with 70% local content while the Fusion hybrid is built in Sonora, Mexico.
I'm suprised there is this much debate over this. It's pretty simple, it's Sedan/Hatchback. Fords advertising is no more disengenious then advertising has been for almost since the inception of advertising. It's not the first time an advertiser has used a quickly worded or subtle distinction to make an ear catching claim. "Made In America", "In it's Class" or simply "Sedan" is all it takes. I really wouldn't sweat it. Prius is as synonimous with "Hybrid" as Kleenex is with tissues thus I really don't think anyone is going to run out after seeing that commercial and buy a Ford Fusion and then become upset when they discover The Prius actually gets better gas mileage. Toyota has the freedom to counter if they wish, because they can say The Prius is the highest mileage commercially available Hybrid sold...PERIOD. They don't need to add the distinction of "Sedan". But since I think most people in the market for a Hybrid, or considering a Hybrid are not going to "miss" finding out what the mpg's of The Prius happen to be, I sincerely doubt Toyota cares. In Toyota's 2010 brochures it says, Welcome to Prius, Welcome to 50mpg. I guarantee you it doesn't say that in Fords Brochure for The Fusion.
I laugh at the Fusion commercials with the woman driving and having to talk down to the viewer about driving a hybrid. There is still a large population out there that doesn't have a clue about what a hybrid is. My experience...one day I drove my Prius to the gas station to buy gas for my snow blower. The guy in the next lane shouted to me "oh, your getting gas in that container, I was wondering why you were at a gas station with that Prius." It sounded like he thought I never put gas in a hybrid.