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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.
Ford stops selling vehicles that consume less gas in line with new mobility taxes so only the rich can travel. Affordable vehicles wreaked havoc when the peasant population was able to leave areas with shitty abusive systems in place.
I think Honda might have been the first to do this about three decades ago when they based all their cars on just two flexible platforms. The Accord, TL, RL, TSX, Crosstour... all the same car. The smaller was the Civic and the RSX. The SUVs are similar, Pilot/MDX and CRV/RDX. They keep changing the model names to throw us off the trail, but the manufacturing is very carefully designed to minimize infrastructure, support, and design. I never figured out where the odd US models like Fit and Element fit that scheme, but they sure seemed expensive for so few units if they were unique.
There is no need to use a SlashDot sig for SEO...
Or any color as long as it's black?
They had a sedan that sold well and businesses bought in mass, but cancelled it. Bring back the Crown Vic, I can't tell todays cop cars and taxis from an uber.
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.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporate_average_fuel_economy
Ford currently sells five models of sedans: Taurus, Focus RS, Fiesta, Mustang, and Focus Active. They're phasing out the first three models over the next few years, to be replaced with all new electric and hybrid models. Still spending a bit to keep the other two in production for the foreseeable future though.
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?
Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.
Ernest Hemingway
Mothers, pregnant, with children and elderly relatives. They don't have to crouch down to get into a car, limbo dance into the back seats through the narrow shaped gaps. Large flappy doors for two door cars (Peugeot) are another dislike. They are impossible to get out of in a supermarket car park. So sliding doors are preferred. Basically like having a personal Hackney cab. All the cars that people drive now seem to be either four wheel drive or something between an estate car and a van.
Vintage computer adverts: http://www.vintageadbrowser.com/computers-and-software-ads
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.
They only deliver to GM. Maybe Ford sees the writing on the wall.
Mothers, pregnant, with children and elderly relatives.
That's NOT where elderly relatives come from.
FORD:
Found On Road, Discontinued
I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
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....
"I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
I think exception would be taken if I ran an extension cord from my second-story window into the parking lot and across to where I could actually park. I also suspect that my car would not remain plugged-in for as long as I might need.
"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.
Slashdot still doesnâ(TM)t support Unicode after it was added to the HTML standard in 1997.
The compact/mid SUV much easier access and egress, better vision, far more effective loading area, in fact the most logical body shape for a car.
You spend a few minutes or even seconds getting in and out, or loading and unloading. You spend hours driving. Sedans have better aerodynamics than crossovers. The most logical body shape for a car is a sedan or wagon, given that we live in the real world with wind resistance.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"