Ford To Stop Selling Every Car In North America But the Mustang, Focus Active (techcrunch.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: Ford today announced it will phase out most cars it sells in North America. According to its latest financial release, the auto giant "will transition to two vehicles" -- the Mustang and an unannounced vehicle, the Focus Active, being the only traditional cars it sells in the region. Ford sees 90 percent of its North America portfolio in trucks, utilities and commercial vehicles. Citing a reduction in consumer demand and product profitability, Ford is in turn not investing in the next generation of sedans. The Taurus is no more. The press release also talks about a new type of vehicle, though it sounds like a crossover. This so-called white space vehicle will "combine the best attributes of cars and utilities, such as higher ride height, space and versatility." Currently, Ford sells six sedans and coupes in North America: the Fiesta, Focus, Fusion, C-Max, Mustang and Taurus. This lineup hits multiple segments, from the compact Fiesta to the mid-size Focus, C-Max and Fusion to the full-size Taurus. The Mustang stands alone as the lone coupe.

Comments

A high ride is a good thing?

[marcle]

I love my antiquated '94 Corolla wagon, not that it's a great car or anything (although it is), but largely because it's got a low and wide profile. Makes it fun to negotiate a curve. Who wants to drive around in a high box?

Re:A high ride is a good thing?

[rmdingler]

There's a reason Corollas became the best selling car of all time over the VW bug a little over twenty years ago. I have a 1992 sixth generation Corolla with nearly 500k miles.

Indeed.

The Nipponese made vehicles of such quality that the earth's preeminent automobile manufacturer was torn asunder, and Detroit has never been the same.

Ironic, perhaps, that two of the nations vanquished in the 2nd World War (Germany and Japan) grew to dominate worldwide automotive manufacturing.

Perhaps divesting one's national goals from military encroachment to industrial excellence promotes national productivity. Who knew?

Re:A high ride is a good thing?

[CrimsonAvenger]

Ironic, perhaps, that two of the nations vanquished in the 2nd World War (Germany and Japan) grew to dominate worldwide automotive manufacturing.

Perhaps divesting one's national goals from military encroachment to industrial excellence promotes national productivity. Who knew?

More like, "perhaps having your legacy industry blown to kingdom-come and having to rebuild it from scratch gives you a leg up...."

Especially since in this case, the people who rebuilt their industry from scratch did it with money from the guys who didn't have to rebuild theirs....

Re:A high ride is a good thing?

[MachineShedFred]

"good bike" is subjective, and there are GREAT bikes available for far less than $5,000 new. You don't need a fucking carbon fiber frame with Shimano Dura-ace components front-to-back on your commuter bike - you aren't entering the Tour de France here. Also, there's this web site called "Craigslist" that you may have heard of, which connects you with people that are selling used stuff in your area. If a 25 year old Corolla is acceptable, why wouldn't a lightly-used 3-year old bike be?

And then there's this:

Operating cost of a bicycle is essentially free, plus some tires, brake elements, and chain oil. And you can subtract the gym membership you don't need for getting your cardio in.

Operating cost of your Corolla that you keep going on about is much higher. The next set of tires + brake job alone would more than pay for a decent commuter bike, never mind the fuel, battery, oil changes, brake fluid / power steering / coolant flush / transmission oil if you're actually maintaining the thing.

Goodbye Ford.

[Anonymous Coward]

You're betting the company on SUVs, and in a few years when gas prices shoot up again, you're gonna lose the company. Does anyone really believe gas prices can stay this low for forever? I think they'll shoot up again within 5 years, just when Ford has ditched all its cars that people will actually want to buy when gas is $5 a gallon.

Re:Oil and gas profits not as high as projected...

[Actually, I do RTFA]

Funny that they're discontinuing all the fuel efficient models just as the many-years-long slump in oil prices is ending. I guess they can only think about what they should have done in the past, not plan for the future.

Re:Or... Ford cedes sedan market to Tesla

[haruchai]

If US consumer tastes change (as they always do) Ford is toast.

Tesla can't make enough sedans and not affordably enough

Re:How will they achieve CAFE?

[Actually, I do RTFA]

They classify all the other vehicles (pickups, SUVs) as trucks.

Model T

[technosaurus]

They forget how the company was built. A Model T was $300 in 1925 => $4,268.42 in 2018. You can't buy a new car for triple that now.

Re:Model T

[Hans Lehmann]

If people were willing to buy a 20hp car with no heater, no AC, no electronics, no radial tires, no electric starter, no air bags, no power seats, a life span of 50,000 miles or so, and that needed servicing every month, I'm sure there would be a $4286 car available today.

Re:Higher height is just terrible

[Anonymous Coward]

Long and low hoods might look nice, but they're dangerous.

What the fuck do you know about the subject other than what someone else told you to think ?

A statement like "they're dangerous" reveals one thing only, which is that you're an idiot who takes an oversimplified argument and swallows it
hook, line, and sinker.