… Except for the Mustang & “Focus Active” (Chinese import), everything else they make will be an SUV or Corssover:
Dropping out of the sedan business in the United States is a momentous shift for Ford. Just a decade ago, the Focus compact and the midsize Fusion spearheaded a push to provide stylish and fuel-efficient cars as gasoline prices were rising.
But Americans are abandoning sedans and choosing trucks and S.U.V.s. Mr. Shanks said the business lines losing money were mainly smaller vehicles. Within a few years, Ford will offer only two cars in the United States: the Mustang sports car and a new Focus variant with the shape of an S.U.V., Mr. Hackett said. Fiat Chrysler dropped its small and midsize cars in North America two years ago, and has prospered by ramping up sales of trucks and Jeeps.
Ford is planning to introduce several new trucks and S.U.V.s over the next three years. They will be available as both gasoline- and battery-powered versions.
Terrible business decision that’s going to leave them in bad shape when gas prices inevitably start rising again. Not to mention Ford sold 209k Fusions vs only 158k Focuses in 2017. I’d be willing to bet there’s more profit in a Fusion than a Focus too.
Not smart on Ford’s part. This will shift focus away from the brand entirely for those who aren’t buying an F-150 or an SUV. This also is a disaster for enthusiasts who don’t want to drive a mustang. Kiss the Fiesta ST (This was going anyway), Focus ST, and Focus RS goodbye for our market. This response is the exact opposite of brands such as Honda. Instead of pulling out of cars entirely, Honda brought back the Civic hatch and made an Accord so nice that it is impossible to ignore. Now give me an AWD Accord Sport wagon, Honda. Think Volvo V90, but more affordable.
I think this will hurt ford less than it will help other car manufacturers. If they were losing money on the car division why not ax it and focus on the products you do so well with. All they were doing were cannibalizing sales that will now got to Gm, honda, nissan etc. GMC is one of GMs most profitable division, I see ford becoming similar to that business model.
on a side note, Honda should really get out of truck market, their ridgeline is getting uglier and uglier. Don’t know what it’s with the look of ridgeline, it just looks really unproportional.
The company is considering plans to eliminate the Chevrolet Volt hybrid, the Buick LaCrosse, Cadillac CT6, Cadillac XTS, Chevrolet Impala and Chevrolet Sonic, according to Reuters.
People like small cars because they are fuel efficient, that won’t matter in a few years when pretty much all passenger vehicles are electric.
I said I would never buy an SUV but then Porsche made the Cayenne, Vehicles have evolved and cars are not as desirable as they once were.
Now that I’m sitting here thinking about it, I would never buy another sedan again, more than likely. UNLESS it’s a desirable sport sedan or something that I want as a “cool” car.
Other than that, small crossover SUVs are the best of both worlds. Roomy, efficient, easy to drive, etc…
Hmm… I’ve worked on batteries for some of these future programs at Ford for three years now. I don’t think fuel economy will be much of an issue – most everything will have a hybrid variant, or a plugin, or electric. I think Ford’s bigger threat is an economy that might sag in the next few years. With that said, I’m leaving Ford to hike the Appalachian Trail this year. xD
As someone who is on his third leased Lincoln and loves the Lincoln lineup right now I really hope this is only the Ford line. Even still it is a dumb decision.
