Motor Trend on Tuesday named the 2010 Ford Fusion its "Car of the Year."

The award marked the second consecutive year that Ford Motor Co. claimed one of the influential magazine's top honors. Last year, the 2009 F-150 pickup claimed "Truck of the Year."

Ford's midsize sedan beat out 22 other contenders, including the new Toyota Prius, Nissan 370Z and BMW 7 Series.
Members of the magazine's editorial staff told The Detroit News they were impressed by the improvements Ford has made to every aspect of the Fusion since it debuted in 2005.

"Ford has proven its resilience in these tough times by delivering to market a car with broad appeal to a broad range of consumers," said Motor Trend Editor-in-Chief Angus MacKenzie.

"The Fusion range has matured into a competitive roster of midsize sedans, able to compete with sales juggernauts such as the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord."

Despite one of the worst markets in automotive history, the Fusion has set a new full-year sales record this year, gaining market share and becoming the best-selling car from any U.S. automaker.

CEO Alan Mulally called the Motor Trend award "another proof point" that Ford's turnaround is working.

Ford's new products have been drawing accolades all year from key arbiters of public sentiment, such as Consumer Reports and J.D. Power and Associates.

But analyst Erich Merkle of Autoconomy.com in Grand Rapids said the Motor Trend award is even more influential.

"It's one of the most important honors," he said, adding that it can only strengthen "already impressive" sales.

Motor Trend made the announcement at a special ceremony at Ford world headquarters.

"Cars just don't happen," editor MacKenzie told a crowd of Ford employees. "Every one of you here in this room has a little piece of this trophy."

Motor Trend was particularly impressed with the new Fusion Hybrid.

"What it means is that you can have an economical and a fun product. You don't have to make trade-offs. It doesn't have to be odd looking," said Nancy Gioia, director of Ford's electric vehicle programs. "It shows what an American company can do."

Ford got an endorsement of a different sort this week from billionaire investor George Soros.

His Soros Fund Management LLC revealed Monday that it had purchased 7.3 million shares in Ford over the past three months. That helped push Ford's share price to $9 Tuesday for the first time in two years, before settling back to close at $8.98 -- a gain of 27 cents, or 3.1 percent.

Derrick Kuzak, Ford's global product development chief, said the Motor Trend award, other public recognition of Ford's progress and the company's financial performance have given a big boost to employee morale.

"Last year, it was the F-series," he said. "We really need to start thinking of this as an annual event at Ford."