Keep in mind that (1) these numbers are in US gallons, and (2) the EPA rates the Toyota Camry Hybrid (very popular where I live) at 33 mpg city, 34 mpg highway.
We're in the City of Angels this week to drive a bunch of new Fords, including the new 2010 Mustang and Fusion. We started off Monday afternoon with a mileage challenge in the new 2010 Fusion Hybrid. We can't share our driving impressions until Saturday, but we can tell you the results of the mileage contest. Ford hybrid applications manager Gil Portalatin used his intimate knowledge of the car to set some benchmarks the day before. Ford claims the Fusion will get at least 39 mpg city/ 37 mpg highway when the EPA numbers are calculated in the coming weeks. Portalatin got 46 mpg on the first segment of the drive route and 43.5 mpg on the hillier second part. Among the journalists on hand, Car and Driver's Steve Siler recorded a 43.6 mpg result on the first part. After Drew Phillips and I switched places for the second segment, I achieved 43.1 mpg, which is a very impressive number for Ford's new mid-size sedan.
http://www.autoblog.com/2008/12/09/autobloggreen-gets-43-1-mpg-in-the-2010-ford-fusion-hybrid/So it not only outperforms the Toyota Camry Hybrid's numbers in a theoretical world, but its theoretical numbers are easily surpassed (admittedly by people who are probably driving hybrids like they're meant to be driven, by hypermiling).
And overall, I've maintained for a while now that the Fusion/Milan is the most underrated car in the midsize family sedan market (good build quality, good materials, excellent seats, controlled ride, and probably the best steering I've ever felt in this genre). This certainly doesn't change that assessment.