Ford is going to take a fairly novel approach to sell its latest entry in the midsize car segment, the 2010 Fusion: It's going to talk about the car.

Common sense, no? But Ford--and the Detroit automakers in general--haven’t exactly been synonymous with family cars in recent years. For its part, the Blue Oval acknowledges this and says it's trying to change that perception.

"We're known as a truck and Mustang company," said Matt VanDyke, Ford's U.S. communications director.

To that end, Ford is spending big bucks in spite of the down economy to get the word out about the revised Fusion and its sister car, the Mercury Milan, which are launching this month. Advertising spending for the Fusion will be similar to that of the Taurus, and they will share the title of "biggest initiative of the year," said Chantel Lenard, Ford group marketing manager for small and medium cars.

Those dollars will also line up with what Ford spent on the recent launches of the F-150 and the Flex, though the company declined to reveal figures.

Dubbed "We Speak Car," Ford will trumpet the Fusion starting Tuesday during "American Idol," and in print and online advertising. And it's not just a Madison Avenue jingle. Cars, for once, are no longer a foreign language at Ford. The Fusion joins the remade Taurus this year, and they will be followed by the Focus and Fiesta small cars in 2010. Even the beefy Explorer might go to unibody in underpinnings in 2010--further signaling Ford's shift to smaller utility.

The reason is fairly obvious: The executives in Dearborn think cars are the sustainable way to profitability going forward in fickle economic times punctuated by see-sawing gasoline prices. It's estimated that the midsize segment topped 2 million cars last year in the United States.

"We at Ford believe the pendulum is going to continue to swing," said George Pipas, the company's sales analyst and numbers cruncher extraordinaire.

Still, it's an area that's currently the domain of some heavy hitters--namely the Toyota Camry, the Honda Accord and the Chevy Malibu. To differentiate from that well-established field, Ford is going to hawk fuel economy, where it's now claiming leadership, particularly with the Fusion hybrid. That car gets 41 mpg on the highway, about 8 mpg better than the Camry hybrid.

"That 41 is huge," said VanDyke, noting its cuts through the "numerical soup" of competitors that are lumped together with mpg ratings in the mid-30s.

The Fusion's inline-four engine, which gets 34 mpg on the highway, will also be pitched as affordable transportation, and it starts at $19,995, including destination. Though it's hardly a pony car, performance will also get some play as a sport package with a 263-hp V6 will also be available.

The Fusion hybrid starts at $27,995, and the Milan hybrid starts at $31,300. Both qualify for a federal tax credit of $3,400. The base Milan with an I4 engine starts at $21,905.

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