2010 Prius - Not Motor Trend Car of Year

I agree with TIZTIM, Don't care.

It was a Regular Gas Fusion, not a Hybrid.

And it won based on sales against Camry/Accord competition I suspect.

I am OK with it, they had to give a plug to the SUFFERING U.S. automakers....IMO

 

No sour grapes (quite the contrary), but a good friend of mine who's in the automotive advertising business told me a few years ago, that if one were to look at the amount of advertising $$ a company spends at a particular magazine, and then correlate that with the awards handed out by that magazine...one should NOT be surprised that the level of advertising $$ does directly correlate with accolades from a particular magazine. While awards from a magazine are the most overt way for a magazine to help insure advertising dollars continue to flow, the other other way for a mag to give a wink and a nod to a car maker, is to give favorable review on the manufacturers cars. Either way, $$ talk.

 

On an objective note, if one were to look at the rating criteria (supposedly) used by Motor Trend, IMO, one would be hard press to justify the Fusion as car of the year. From Motor trends web site -

Motor Trend conducts road tests on each vehicle and judges vehicles in six categories: design advancement, engineering excellence, intended function, efficiency, safety and value.

I can't comment on the relative safety aspects of one car compared to the next, but I would be hard pressed to find another car that beats the Prius in these categories: design advancement, engineering excellence, intended function, efficiency. The only category that I would expect a lower rating for the Prius would be in "value".

 

The Prius is probably a better car, but isn't really much different from the '05-'08 Prius. The Fusion is "newer".

That's what happens when your are 10 years ahead of everybody else. I was looking for the next step at Toyota in '10, and it hasn't come yet.

What's surprising is an American car magazine named ANY hybrid as car of the year. There is considerable resistance to change here, in case you haven't noticed. And hybrids are change.

Not the Fusion hybrid? That's more in line with what I'd expect.

 

Define "much different". Yes, both are still hybrids. Yes, both have 4 wheels and are a hatchbacks. But for me, at least, the following differences are significant:

(1) Gen III is more powerful/bigger engine, and YET...
(2) ...gets significantly better MPG's.
(3) GenIII is bigger and weighs more (ie, better ride/stability improved).
(4) A wealth of new features/options, with some not even available on the most expensive cars (any car); ie, solar roof/ventilation package.

While the II and III have similarities (how could they not, as the GenIII is not an entirely new car)...I think there are quite a few (major) differences. Just my take.

Again, if one is to look at the 6 criteria/metrics that MT (supposedly) used to rank cars, the only metric that I can see (of the 6) that the Fusion would score higher on is, "value". The other 5 criteria, IMO, the Prius wipes up on...

 

A nice car, I'm not selling our Prius ... either one.

Bob Wilson

 

Just to clarify, the award does not distinguish between the hybrid and non-hybrid fusion. They are considered two different trims on one car.

 

OMG, you guys just go out of your way to look for slights against the Prius. Geez. Note to Priuschat, the world doesn't revolve around the Prius. Variety is the spice of life, there ARE other people who like other cars. That doesn't make your choice any better or worse. Car magazines are written by people, people have different opinions on cars, not everyone will agree. Big deal!

 

not surprised the Pri did not win. if you look at improvements in both models from 2009 to 2010, the Fusion, especially the hybrid was waaaay more improved. it has easily displaced the Camry hybrid as best mid level hybrid sedan

 

The Fusion has ranked very high in reliability and customer satisfaction so I don't know why you are saying that

 

the award in itself if for best new car. waiting 3 years is completely outside the point of the award.

look at the previous winners. like any reward for "new" things, they have as many misses as they do hits. its now a foregone conclusion that 2004 will go down as a banner year for MT.... i doubt they feel the same about the year they pick the K cars...

 

LOL. After what, a month?

New car "reliability" only means that they did a good job, prior to delivery, in making sure everything worked. Does not mean that it will stand the test of time.

"Customer satisfaction" was not a criteria in MT's ranking. The closest would be "value".

 

I was responding to the disparaging comments about Ford, not about MT awards. The Fusion has been around 2-3 years and has high marks for reliability and customer satisfaction - but some Prius owners don't want to deal with facts. (and I own a 2010 Prius which I love)

 

The fusion has been around since 2006. It's reliablilty has been ranked above average by every major source and it bests many toyota models in reliability. Granted, the prius still edges it out, but the award was not about reliability in the first place.

 

That's fine, but, as people say, the MT award is given for "all new" designs/vehicles. If that's true, and the 2010 Fusion is "all new", then reliability data based on an older design from 3 years ago, could be irrelevant to today's Fusion. Folks won't have that data for sometime...

But that aside, reliability was not one of the 6 ranking criteria used by MT, anyway.

 

Ford has been the best American car company for awhile. They were smart enough to license Toyota's hybrid technology. Good luck to them on the Fusion--especially the hybrid. Their success means a lot of jobs in the car industry. Toyota's success here means a lot of jobs, too. Given the choice, I'll stick with the Prius' proven reliability. Ford is still no.3 in reliability behind Toyota and Honda, but doing very well.

I'll take any of these companies over the German car companies in terms of reliability. None of the German cars are as reliable--even the very expensive ones.

 

NO! Not again. Ford did not license Toyota's hybrid technology. Ford and Toyota do have a cross licensing agreement, no money changed hands.

As far as the American 'big 3' Ford is clearly number one in reliability and profitability.

 

Fords quality is not a problem.

Ford quality tops Toyota:
Ford Tops Quality Survey - BusinessWeek

Ford ties Toyota, beats Honda:
Ford initial quality beats Honda, ties Toyota... according to Ford — Autoblog

Ford quality same as Toyota and Honda:
Consumer Reports: Ford Quality Same As Toyota, Honda - Consumer Reports - Jalopnik

If you want to dig on bad quality, try Chrysler. They also basically are non existent in the hybrid department.

 

I'm glad to see other people highlighting Ford's quality. But I also said "customer satisfaction" in addition to "reliability" - Ford also ranks high in that department

I appreciate the distinction that Ford did not license Toyota hybrid technology - a false distinction that had Toyota as the expert and Ford as the ignorant customer - not true.

And again I will add that I own a new Prius and love it.

 

Ford shot past Honda in reliability ratings a couple of years ago and is now just about on par with toyota. I've owned one honda, and it was the biggest piece of crap I've ever owned. Traded it in for my first Prius and never looked back.