Ford says only Mustang & Focus will live on in North America as it drops slow-selling sedans

[Kaido]

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/f...ca-as-it-drops-slow-selling-sedans-2018-04-25

Well then

 

[drnickriviera]

Doesn't seem to be the focus we know, but a crossover focus active? Crazy

 

[Bubbleawsome]

Dang So even the Ford Fusion is out? And I know the Taurus was old as dirt but the SHO was cool.

That's a major restructuring, hope it bites them in the rear.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Well, they'll probably keep selling the Fiesta/Focus in Europe, so I'd imagine if gas prices go up a bunch and people stop using F-250s as grocery getters, they'll ship a few back over here.

But this makes me sad.

Also a tacit admission that they can't make a Fusion as good as a Camry. Not even pretending their products are as good. Okay, Ford, so why should I buy an F150 over a Tundra? Best-Selling Truck in America doesn't mean anything. Nickelback's popular too.

 

[Kaido]

Doesn't seem to be the focus we know, but a crossover focus active? Crazy

Yup:

The upcoming Ford Focus Active, a crossover-like hatchback that's slated to debut in 2019.

Apparently they're aiming at the Subaru Crosstrek, although it looks more like an Impreza to me in the video:

https://www.autoblog.com/2018/04/10/ford-focus-active-crossover-everything-we-know/

So, AWD electric Mustang then?

 

[Mr.IncrediblyBored]

Are they willing to concede half a million units a year to their competitors? That's a pretty big gamble that somebody interested in a Fusion will instead buy an Escape or Edge. In our house, the wife has a Fusion, I have a Focus. Their replacement will apparently not be a Ford.

 

[Mr.IncrediblyBored]

Here are year-over-year sales for the Focus. Every jump in sales coincides with a new model (or major refresh) followed by a slow decline as the car gets stale. The Fusion followed a similar pattern. So instead of releasing a new model, Ford dumps it completely?

2017 158.385
2016 168.789
2015 202.478
2014 219.634
2013 234.570
2012 245.922
2011 175.717
2010 172.421
2009 160.433
2008 195.823
2007 173.213
2006 177.006
2005 184.825
2004 208.339
2003 229.353
2002 243.199
2001 264.414
2000 286.166
1999 55.846

 

[PeterScott]

That doesn't make much sense. I can see closing out models that don't sell. But they sold over 200K Fusions, compared to less than 100K Mustangs.

 

[Accord99]

That doesn't make much sense. I can see closing out models that don't sell. But they sold over 200K Fusions, compared to less than 100K Mustangs.

But in order to sell 200K Fusions, they may have to offer so much incentives or sell cheap to fleet operators that they make little to no money, compared to the Mustang.

And the Mustang is also a Ford icon.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

But in order to sell 200K Fusions, they may have to offer so much incentives or sell cheap to fleet operators that they make little to no money, compared to the Mustang.

And the Mustang is also a Ford icon.

Between the SHO and the fleet of cop cars in RoboCop, I'd say the Taurus is a Ford icon too.

 

[XavierMace]

Between the SHO and the fleet of cop cars in RoboCop, I'd say the Taurus is a Ford icon too.

I think I could count on one hand the number of people I know that could pick out a Taurus from a line up or know anything about it beyond it's a Ford. Most everyone I know knows what a Mustang is.

 

[Puffnstuff]

When gas prices creep back up they might regret abandoning these products. Ford is banking on trucks as evidenced by their expanding portfolio and the development of the 7.0L v8 which many hope will find its way into the f150 line.

 

[HitAnyKey]

When I first saw the message about this, I instantly thought of the Mustang and was relieved it is safe.

But how long before they decide the V8s are overkill and it should be a FWD hybrid. These are scary times.

 

[SearchMaster]

When I first saw the message about this, I instantly thought of the Mustang and was relieved it is safe.

But how long before they decide the V8s are overkill and it should be a FWD hybrid. These are scary times.

Hybrid is fine - there are enough hybrid (and battery-powered) supercars to show that you don't have to sacrifice performance. FWD won't happen for the Mustang, there's no real reason to. But certainly things will change - if a V8 is maintained it will become a much smaller, more efficient, likely super- or turbo-charged version. CAFE is real, and the numbers are unattainable without some progress (which I guess is the point).

 

[pauldun170]

Fords lineup will be

Fake CUV because Subaru lacks competition (Focus Active)
Tiny CUV cuz your daughter wants a car for college. (EcoSport)
Small CUV cuz your daughter got a her first job (Escape)
2 Midsize CUV cuz Daughter got married, first kid happened and between trade in of the Escape and rebates on the Edge also "Slap a Bronco name on a crossover and it will sell like hot cakes for 2 years" (Edge, upcoming Bronco)
2 Large CUVs cuz Daughter got married and kids are getting big + rebates for the win. (Explorer, Flex)
Large SUV cuz trailer towing and the local Chevy dealer is a bag dicks (Expedition)
Small Minivan cuz plumber or Husbands bad idea of buying this thing when she really wanted a Highlander (Transit)
Small Pickup cuz lets build something where it will eventually disappoint us in the sales ( Upcoming Ranger)
Large Pickup (F150+)
Halo car Coupe (Mustang)

Based on research
Women want Crossovers.
Men buy what their wives tell them they too.

Ford decided to crossover all the things.

You people should be happy they didn't turn the Mustang into a 4dr with body cladding and an increased ride height.

 

[Midwayman]

Well luckily the only ford I'd seriously consider is the Mustang. Still its scary seeing them give up on sedans. I don't want to be forced into cross overs or SUVs.

 

[Bubbleawsome]

Well luckily the only ford I'd seriously consider is the Mustang. Still its scary seeing them give up on sedans. I don't want to be forced into cross overs or SUVs.

We’ll all be driving Japanese and South Korean cars if America and Germany keep this up

 

[PeterScott]

I think I could count on one hand the number of people I know that could pick out a Taurus from a line up or know anything about it beyond it's a Ford. Most everyone I know knows what a Mustang is.

Killing the Taurus, actually does make perfect sense. It's been so long since I heard anything about Taurus, I didn't realize they still built them, and they only sold ~40K Taurus models last year, vs ~200K Fusions.

 

[BurnItDwn]

Here are year-over-year sales for the Focus. Every jump in sales coincides with a new model (or major refresh) followed by a slow decline as the car gets stale. The Fusion followed a similar pattern. So instead of releasing a new model, Ford dumps it completely?

2017 158.385
2016 168.789
2015 202.478
2014 219.634
2013 234.570
2012 245.922
2011 175.717
2010 172.421
2009 160.433
2008 195.823
2007 173.213
2006 177.006
2005 184.825
2004 208.339
2003 229.353
2002 243.199
2001 264.414
2000 286.166
1999 55.846

In the 80s and 90s, Toyota and Honda's care were SOOOO much better than Ford, that many people who consider a Toyota or a Honda will not even give a second thought to Ford. It's going to take them a long time to dig out of that hole, even if their reliability has improved a lot since then, it's hard to fix a reputation. That said, I think they still have some design issues, seems like they are using lots of components which are not designed to live much more than 150k or 10 years.

MIL's explorer, with only 160K miles ... she nurses it like it's her baby, transfer case died recently, radiator leaked and dumped coolant all over the place last fall, and before that her power steering pump had died, and before that the brakes were leaking fluid...
Wife's edge, had issues like fuel filler vents clogging up, and light in the gear selector burned out, and CEL codes for sensors after not even 100K

Subaru has a bit of a reputation for being shit quality, but, my forester at 125K has been far more reliable than both of their cars, and brakes and tires seem to last like 2-3 times as long. Yes, the head gasket job at 125k was expensive, but, for the other 10ish years I have owned it, it's been cheap to own other than needing more frequent tire rotations and having to pay to change the diff fluid.

 

[senseamp]

If they are going to sell jacked up Focus anyway, why not the sporty one? Seems like they got an old geezer CEO who doesn't understand what cars urban young people buy. It will probably be profitable in the short run, but long term it's going to backfire as they lose mindshare with new generation of buyers.

 

[Midwayman]

If they are going to sell jacked up Focus anyway, why not the sporty one? Seems like they got an old geezer CEO who doesn't understand what cars urban young people buy. It will probably be profitable in the short run, but long term it's going to backfire as they lose mindshare with new generation of buyers.

I sort of wonder if its not a sort of run down in anticipation of self driving cars. That's their long game anyways.

 

[Insomniator]

Not going miss any of them. Mustangs and F150's sounds about right to me.

Does anyone really care if the Fusion and Focus go away? Plenty of other, most likely better, options.

 

[senseamp]

I sort of wonder if its not a sort of run down in anticipation of self driving cars. That's their long game anyways.

That's a while away, and by that time, ford will be seen as old geezer brand.

 

[Bubbleawsome]

Not going miss any of them. Mustangs and F150's sounds about right to me.

Does anyone really care if the Fusion and Focus go away? Plenty of other, most likely better, options.

The Fusion was a pretty good car I nearly bought, and the focus hatch is pretty popular at my college. What killed them was not updating them. Why would you buy a ford with old infotainment, no adaptive cruise, and an automated manual when you can get a newly refreshed Hyundai Sonata that has all the newest features? I think this is a really shortsighted move by Ford.

At least they’re living on around the world, so when the US truck market collapses (again) they can bring them back over.

 

[senseamp]

By then competitors are going to have young people in their orbit, and Ford will be seen as truck your gardner drives or Mustang the local Beverlyhillbilly douche drives.