mmarshall

Well, we all knew the sedan market was suffering, but, at Ford, this makes it official. Though there is no hard date, the Fusion, Focus, C-Max, Taurus, and Fiesta are all on the way out.

https://jalopnik.com/ford-will-phase...ica-1825544784Ford Will Phase Out All Its Small Cars And Sedans In North America Except The Mustang And Focus Active


Erik Shilling
Today 5:05pm
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The Ford Fusion, Focus, C-Max, Taurus, and Fiesta—all on the way out in North America as Ford transitions its lineup to one that is all but entirely dominated by SUVs, crossovers and trucks, the automaker announced today.


In the coming years, only the Mustang and new Focus Active mini-crossover will be in Ford’s North America lineup, Ford said today in a Q1 financial report.

“Over the next few years, the Ford car portfolio in North America will transition to two vehicles – the best-selling Mustang and the all-new Focus Active crossover coming out next year. The company is also exploring new ‘white space’ vehicle silhouettes that combine the best attributes of cars and utilities, such as higher ride height, space and versatility.”

Additionally, the company said “Given declining consumer demand and product profitability, the company will not invest in next generations of traditional Ford sedans for North America.”

One thing Ford did not say is when this will happen, though it’s fair to assume that it will happen relatively quickly. All of those small cars and sedans are pretty old and due for replacements or at least updates that now won’t happen. It’s also fair to say the future doesn’t look bright for some of our favorite performance cars, like the Fiesta ST, Focus ST and Focus RS.

The New York Times said yesterday that Ford loses money on the Focus, Fiesta, and Fusion, and Ford CEO Jim Hackett has signaled that he intends to be ruthless when it comes to raising the automaker’s profits. Ford North America’s profit margin was eight percent last year, or 2.7 percent less than what GM’s was.

And on Wednesday, Ford reported even worse financials.

Here’s the NYT:

Hackett has also said he intends for Ford to go all-in on America’s seemingly insatiable desire for SUVs, introducing the EcoSport this year, in addition to several more SUV models planned for the future. Hackett’s hoping that those models will boost profits that have, in recent years, been propped up by the company’s best-selling F-Series trucks.

Ford’s exit of the North American sedan market is not without considerable risk, since it makes Ford vulnerable to a rise in gas prices, which might send consumers back to cars that aren’t SUVs. Like, you know, sedans.

And then there’s that Focus Active, which is a mini-crossover that would compete with the Subaru Crosstrek. It looks... fine? It’ll have to do, as it will soon be the only car-ish thing in Ford’s North American lineup outside of a dang Mustang.

mmarshall

Yeah, Folks, I know (you don't have to tell me)............GM could be next.

spwolf

Man, Toyota is going to have its work cut out for them with quite few manufacturers quitting sedan and small car markets...

This seems like a very short sighted idea from Ford. They are basically not full lineup manufacturer anymore.

Instead, Toyota doubled down and created best ever Camry, Avalon and soon likely Corolla (Hatch).

Och

iTrader: (3)

Nobody buys regular sedans anymore. All the Camrys I see here in NYC have T&LC plates - they are just cheap, disposable Uber cars.

bagwell

yep stupid of Ford IMO... I guess they can't compete with their Fusion, etc. so they are checking out completely, LOL.

mmarshall

We're already seeing a noticeable increase at the pumps in the U.S. this spring, but it is unclear if that is because of the approaching summer driving/vacation season or a long-term rise in the barrel-price of crude.

mmarshall

The Fusion, IMO, is actually an excellent vehicle, better in some ways, than its sister (upmarket) Lincoln MKZ....though the MKZ is nicer and more plush-looking inside and out. The MKZ, though, for whatever reason, seems to suffer from more quality and fit/finish problems than the Fusion.

Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

It's sad to see a great product in the Fusion going away with it's PHEV, Sport EcoBoost V6 models and AWD options that few of it's competitors never offered save for the Legacy. Another storied nameplate in the Taurus is also lost, but I blame them for never updating or redesigning it while the Impala, Azera, Avalon were all getting updates. If you want a 'Ford' sedan, I don't think they're going away completely, just one will have to step up to a Lincoln until those get scrutinized. Lincoln IMO should continue and redesign the Continental and MKZ (Zephyr) for another generation on the new scalable RWD platform that is gracing the Aviator.

The new Focus Active crossover btw looks really good to me. I really hope they reconsider and offer an AWD option.

The Focus/Fiesta/Fusion/Mondeo should still be available else where in the world, and could always make a return if Ford sensed a small sedan comeback in the future.

Vladi

Yeah right? Who in their right mind would ever approve this road map? It doesn't make any sense for a full feature car manufacturer to ride solely on a current and near future trends. It maybe makes sense for Mitsubishi, Mazda, Volvo and some other niche manufacturers but Ford? Really? And I know exactly what this whole SUV/CUV thing is, it's manufacturers doubling down on a trend cause they have missed it few times so far. In the end they gonna create the bubble which will burst like there is no tomorrow and people will be heading back to their sedan four doors, only this time there will be very few players left in the game.

Oh btw reason why Mustang sells is because it's a good car Ford! Same reason why F150 sells but Ridgeline doesn't. How about you make that Fusion and Taurus good and competitive cars and sales would not be a concern.

mmarshall

The Mustang sells because it is a relatively Inexpensive way to get a big V8 (or twin-turbo V6), RWD, and enough power to easily do burnouts.

swajames

Here's a NY Times article from Jan discussing Hackett's initial delivery of his prescription for Ford and the lukewarm reception that it got when it was first rolled out to analysts.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/24/b...d-hackett.html

Personally, I think he's insane. The issue isn't consumer tastes irreversibly moving to different types of vehicles. It's manufacturers like Ford being poor at predicting trends and then slow to react to them.

This leaves Ford perpetually a gas price crisis away from a sales slump it potentially won't be able to withstand.

Notably, Hackett doesn't have a background in the industry. That in itself isn't cause for concern, Mulally didn't either, but he did have a background in complex manufacturing - Hackett's prior business basically made office furniture....

RNM GS3

Sulu

Where did I read that Fiat-Chrysler, that already gave up on mid-size and compact cars, is losing customers? The reasoning is that as drivers of Chrysler sedans look to trade in their old cars but do not find any new cars on Chrysler lots, they are forced to go to another automaker.

This could happen to Ford and if GM heads in the same direction, could happen to GM also.

It looks like Toyota and Honda may soon have the car market all to themselves.

chromedome

Ouch. The Fusion/Mondeo is an excellent car that doesn't deserve to be axed like this. Ford just might import some from their Spanish Mondeo factory instead of selling only SUVs and crossovers in the US market. They could also import the Mondeo-based Taurus from China. It's possible that sedan development will continue for the European and Asian markets.

I can't believe FCA, Ford and GM are killing American sedans like this. It's so shortsighted when a fuel price hike could dampen demand for SUVs overnight.

Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

GM has a few more brands that sell sedans though than Ford. They may consolidate a few but I suspect they'll still have some.