回复：The Pros and Cons of Japanese Cars

Thanks to those who invested their time to read the lengthy posting.

A couple of house keeping items first:

1. This is a forum to exchange ideas. Hence all points of views, so long as based on facts, are welcome.
2. Spent too much time in Unix, still don’t have a system to type in Chinese, so bear with the English posting.
3. Don’t have any association with any car makers, dealers or repair shops, and don’t plan to in the future.


Now let’s continue the fun.

The previous article described the overall auto market in the States of the past two decades. With the global economy, the difference between the manufactures is shrinking. However the pricing of imports still has not matched those of domestic, although sometimes they are mechanically the same vehicle.


On the comparison between Toyota Camry and Ford Fusion

This is a perfect example of the above trend.

Ford has a significant stake in Mazda, so the new Fusion is based on the CD3 platform which is shared with Mazda 6 mid-size.

Now let’s take a look of the prices.

The invoice of 2010 Fusion, Mazda 6, and Camry are $18443, $17505, and $17938, respectively. All base model, 2.5 Liter I-4 engine

The key is the incentives:

Fusion has up to $5500 incentives this month.
Mazda 6 has $1000 rebate this month.
Camry has up to $2150 rebate this month.

Do the math, and you can have your conclusion quickly. You pay several thousand dollars extra for the different logo on the badges.


On the Ford Focus.

Prior to 2010, it’s based on the C170 platform which is based on the European design. That’s the cause of the weight limitation.

Next year when C1 platform is finally used for the North American market, you can pay the Focus price and sit in a platform that is identical to that of Mazda 3, 5, Volvo S40, V50, C30 and C70.

Isn’t it surprising to know that Fusion is actually a Mazda, and Focus is from Germany?