Ford have updated the Fusion for the 2017MY with a feature that should come in handy for drivers who might forget to shift into Park before leaving the car.
Offered at no extra cost on all versions of the 2017 Fusion, the ‘Return to Park’ system uses data from several sensors to indicate whether the driver intends to exit the vehicle, and automatically shifts into Park if the engine is turned off, or if the driver’s door is opened and the seatbelt is unlatched, thus preventing a rollaway incident.
“When we decided to go with the new rotary shifter for the 2017 Ford Fusion, the team all sat together in a room to see what additional customer benefit we could bring to the table. We thought about what we could add without getting in the way of normal day-to-day scenarios, and all agreed that a feature to help confirm Park is selected when exiting the vehicle seemed really worthwhile”, said the brand’s global e-shift systems technical expert Mark Zyskowski.
The ‘Return to Park’ feature can also detect if the driver has turned off the engine while on the move, and if so, then it will first shift into Neutral until the car slows down below 5 mph (8 km/h), and then shift into Park automatically. The system doesn’t operate if the driver opens the door while the car is moving to free a coat tail or to see the lane markers better when maneuvering into a parking space, and is also designed not to operate in ‘Stay in Neutral’ or ‘Neutral Tow’ modes.
