It's kind of like a mixed breed pooch taking top honors at the Westminster Dog Show.
The North American International Auto Show in Detroit is renown for offering first looks at such exotic cars as Ferrari, Porsche, Lamborghini and Rolls Royce. Amid all that glitter, the Best in Show award given out each year by Autoweek magazine went this year to a far more humble entrant: the 2013 Ford Fusion.
"It's very rare for a mid-size sedan to win Best in Show," said Autoweek editor Wes Raynal. "I think it's the first of a lot of awards the Fusion is going to win this year."
Last year's winner, for example, was the Porsche 918 RSR, a concept car boasting 568 horsepower -- with 770 horsepower available for eight-second bursts.
The Fusion, however, with a maximum of 237 horsepower, is a car you'll actually be able to drive.
"The Ford Fusion bucks the mid-sized sedan trend of playing to the broadest common denominator," Raynal said. "Where many of the big players are aiming for an inoffensively bland look, the Fusion delivers bold styling that projects a more luxurious message than we expect for its broad, family-car mission," he said, calling the Fusion "chock-full of ... panache and punch."
Autoweek says the Best in Show award is based on "what car people will most remember from the show five years from now."
The Fusion is expected to be on dealers' lots early this year. Ford has not released an MSRP for the 2013 model, but the price for a base model 2012 Fusion was $20,200.
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