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In the shadow of Ford of Canada's boxy headquarters in Oakville, Rob Marner is pointing out reasons why the 2006 Ford Fusion will break through the cluttered and viciously competitive mid-size car market.

And it all starts with the Fusion's all-American front end. If you know your concept cars you'll recognize the prow from the 427 show car of a couple of years ago. The three-bar grille is right off the 427, as are the multi-element squared-off headlamps.

"They stand out," says the 30-something Marner, who is the living embodiment of the sort of buyer Ford hopes to sell on the all-new Fusion -- eager, apparently ambitious and family-oriented.

Based on the new CD3 architecture, which itself traces its roots to the Mazda6, the Fusion is mechanically similar to its Mazda cousin -- as are the 2006 Lincoln Zephyr and the Mercury Milan. The Milan won't be sold in Canada, but the Fusion and Zephyr certainly will be vying for customers.

It won't be easy for the Fusion to break through all the clutter and clang of a marketplace that recently has been rife with employee pricing deals.

Under Ford's Family Plan pricing, for instance, a base 2005 Ford Five Hundred -- a much larger sedan than the Fusion -- has been selling for $29,736, while the top-of-the-line '06 Fusion SEL will be listed at $28,295 when it hits dealer showrooms this fall.

That is a small price difference and it explains why Steve Lyons, group vice-president of sales, marketing and service at Ford, recently told the Detroit Free Press that the Fusion would be launched with a modest incentive in the United States. The situation is likely to be similar in Canada, though Ford of Canada officials are keeping their cards close to the vest about any Fusion incentives. But we do know that Ford of Canada is extending its Family Plan pricing through the end of September.

The Fusion is, of course, a vastly better car than the fading Ford Taurus sedan and station wagon that it at least partially replaces. The Taurus, once the bestselling car in North America, has become a rental fleet staple. It is no longer competitive with class-leading sedans such as the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry.

For reasons apparently quite clear to Ford officials but a little vague to the rest of us, the Taurus is disappearing into the history books. The once-dominant Taurus range is being replaced in Ford's world by three cars: the Volvo-based Five Hundred sedan and Freestyle crossover wagon, both introduced for the '05 model year, and the Fusion.

The Five Hundred is there to tackle the large-car, older-buyer demographic and competes with the Buick Allure and Toyota Avalon to name two. The Freestyle is essentially a station wagon for shoppers who don't want to drive an SUV.

Which brings us to the Fusion. Aside from its stylish looks and quite nimble road manners, it will not only offer conventional engines and power trains, but also advanced technologies such as all-wheel-drive and hybrid power.

Marner also points to the interior as Ford's most sophisticated yet in the segment. Certainly my preproduction tester had a very handsome cabin, with a two-tone leather design, tilt-telescoping steering wheel and a six-disc, in-dash CD changer with MP3 playback.

Under the hood, buyers will have a choice of two power trains. The base setup is a 2.3-litre inline four-cylinder rated at 160 horsepower and mated to a five-speed manual transmission. The starting price: $22,995. An optional five-speed automatic transmission lists for $1,200. A step up to the SE sedan ($25,995) comes with the 3.0-litre V-6 rated at 221 hp. This engine is coupled to a six-speed automatic.

Ford plans to add an all-wheel-drive version for the 2007 model year and a gasoline/electric hybrid Fusion should come to the lineup in the 2008 model year.

Regardless of what's under the hood, the chassis remains the same. It's one Marner says is significantly more rigid than the donor Mazda6 -- itself a very slick handler among mid-sizers. Like the 6, the suspension is independent at all four corners, and the brakes all around are discs with anti-lock standard on even the least expensive car.

Then there is the packaging equation. The Fusion is bigger than the Mazda6, with Ford having stretched the CD3 variant of the architecture in width (about 30 mm) and length (about 56 mm).

The bigger cabin is matched by longer door openings that make entry and exit a snap for grownups. At the rear, entry and exit are also startlingly user-friendly for a sedan of this size.

Meanwhile, the rear seats split 60/40 to allow access between the trunk and the cabin. Novel feature: special levers automatically fold the rear seats flat from the trunk, which itself is quite large.

Based on my drive of a preproduction prototype, there is no question Ford has put some real effort into making this a pleasant, responsive car to drive. The steering is tight, brakes tidily responsive and the independent suspension delivers pretty flat cornering for what is in essence a family four-door.

The quality and design of the cabin looks like a dramatic move upwards for Ford, too.

Ford officials concede that the Fusion, built in Hermosillo, Mexico, is the most important car it has launched in years -- perhaps as far back as the mid-1980s when the first Taurus arrived. But as Joe Phillippi, president of AutoTrends Consulting Inc., says, the mid-size car market is "a tough segment. It's going to have to have some unique things."

Still, the Fusion is competing against quite an array of fairly bland-looking mid-size cars. So Fusion has design on its side -- both inside and out. Ride and handling is strong, too. Moreover, as AWD and hybrid versions hit showrooms in the future, Ford will have some quite "unique things" to crow about.

On the other hand, the deep discounting of employee pricing has surely conditioned buyers to look for the deal, even on spanking-new models like the Fusion. That's not good news for a car that hopes to compete on its merits, not on the deal alone.

All that said, at the very least the new Ford is worth a long test drive.

jcato@globeandmail.ca

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Specifications

2006 Ford Fusion

Type: Mid-size sedan

Price range: $22,995-$28,295

Engines: 2.3-litre inline four DOHC; 3.0-litre V-6 DOHC

Output: 160 hp/150 lb-ft of torque for the I4; 221 hp/205 lb-ft for the V-6

Transmission: Five-speed manual, five-speed automatic, six-speed automatic

Fuel economy (litres/100 km): NA

Alternatives: Toyota Camry, Honda Accord, Subaru Legacy, Chevrolet Malibu, Chrysler Sebring, Hyundai Sonata, Kia Magentis, Mazda6, Mitsubishi Galant, Nissan Altima, Pontiac G6, Volkswagen Passat

Like: Stylish exterior and upscale interior; responsive handling and solid-feeling brakes; comfortable cabin; future models with AWD and hybrid power train

Don't like: 3.0-litre V-6 is a bit unrefined compared with best in class; top pricing strays up to the start of pricing for the much larger Ford Five Hundred; all-new model with no history