The Ford Fusion as Ford’s premier mid-size sedan is evolving quite nicely. Built at Ford’s stamping and assembly plant in Hermosillo, Mexico, the Fusion is Ford’s Americas (north and south) model, while it also offers a verison of the Fusion in Europe for that market. Making its first appearance in showrooms in 2006, it’s been a steadily-improving success since then.

It is also in Hermosillo’s plant that the Fusion’s sisters (Mercury Milan and Lincoln MKZ) are assembled, though the Fusion itself is the most popular of the three in the lineup. Making use of the CD3 platform, which is also shared by Mazda’s 6 sedan, the Ford was designed to replace the Mondeo in Europe and Latin America, except for Argentina — where the Mondeo is still being sold.

It is also on the Fusion where Ford’s now-common ‘three-bar grille’ made its debut. That grille is now omnipresent throughout Ford’s vehicle lineup but was quite new when the Fusion rolled out dressed up in such finery. The Fusion itself falls between the smaller Focus and the larger Taurus in Ford’s vehicle mix and has been a top-selling sedan for Ford ever since.

Initially offered in three trims – the S, SE, and full-boat SEL – the Fusion offered consumers a choice of inline 4 cylinder and V6 engines. The 4 cylinder engine, in particular, offered good horsepower for its size (2. 3 liter), putting out 160 ponies, while the 6 cylinder V6 delivered 221 horses in SE and SEL trim. The four cylinder engine came with either 5 speed manual or 5 speed automatics while the 6 came with a 6 speed automatic transmission.

The Fusion continues to evolve. In 2007, Ford made all-wheel drive available with V6 models, which is a popular feature, especially in northern climes. There are a wide variety of options and standard features, with even the S model featuring convenience touches normally found only in higher-line models.

Front-seat side airbags and side curtain airbags are now standard items on all models in the lineup, in addition to a new anti-theft perimeter alarm system. Both had been extra-cost options prior to the 2007 model year. Continuing to add to the luxury and convenience aura of the car, a DVD-based navigation system and a nice satellite radio package were added as options.

Tire pressure monitoring and anti-lock brakes became standard equipment in 2008 to reflect consumer desires for even more safety features. The very popular Microsoft-designed SYNC system was also added to the Fusion’s already popular equipment list.

For 2010, the Fusion has undergone a complete redesign. It’s most exciting development is the addition of a high-mileage gas-electric hybrid model that gets 41 miles to the gallon in city driving. It’s no performance slug, either, putting out 155 horses from its small 4 cylinder gas-electric mill. Both mileage and horses are impressive achievement in such a vehicle.

Ford alone of the three domestic automakers seems to have made it through the recent and ongoing downturn in the auto sales market relatively less-damaged than its two domestic competitors. Sales reflect this, as its recently reported an improvement year-over-year versus the still-declining sales figures the other two domestics have recently reported. The Fusion competes in a market segment traditionally dominated by certain Japanese automakers, so it has its work cut out for it, but it seems to be doing well.