Ford is Cutting Car Production Back to Just Mustang and Focus Active Models

I, personally, think it is a stupid idea. Consolidate the car lineup, ok. But essentially strip it to nothing. Dumb move.

I used to own a 2012 Ford Edge Sport AWD, which I loved. But the gas mileage and maintenance costs weren't as good as it could have been, we didn't need the larger size anymore (little one didn't need a stroller and car seats didn't need to be reversed), and I wanted to lower my car payment. We ended up getting a 2016 Ford Fusion Titanium 2.0 Ecoboost AWD. Gas mileage improved, car payment went down $200 a month, and while it is a few inches longer than the Edge, it is narrower and made parking easier (both at stores and in the garage). It even costs less to maintain. The trunk is big enough to fit most of what I would stuff in a car. But if it was a hatch or wagon, I would love it even more (Come on Ford! You sell them in Europe. Bring them over here!).

Having said that, they can dump the Ford Taurus as it is in its current state. Aside from the SHO option, there is very little it brings to the table that the Fusion doesn't already have. And even that isn't entirely true now that the Fusion has the Sport mode with its twin turbo 2.7l V6. Sure, it looks bigger, but the Fusion actually has more interior volume. The Fusion also, for me, is more comfortable to sit in. The Taurus has really thick pillars and head liners. I sit tall in a car (all my height is in my torso), so my head was constantly banging against the headliner over the driver side window when I drove my mother's Taurus. The blind spots were worse too. The only thing the Taurus has over the Fusion is a larger trunk, by 4 cubic feet. Maybe if they thin out the pillars and headliner and actually increase the interior volume, it may be worth keeping as a true "large sedan". China's got the lengthened Taurus that looks decent.

As for the Focus and Fiesta, ditch the sedans and keep the hatchbacks. For the Fiesta, only sell the 2 door hatchback and for the Focus keep the 4 door hatchback. The sedans versions are a waste and offer nothing over what the hatchbacks have to offer. Not sure that Focus Active is going to appeal to as many people as the standard hatchback does. Both of these cars have their place in the market that a CUV is not going to fill, both in size and economy. If they only had to keep one, I would say then say to dump the Fiesta and keep the Focus Hatchback as it is more universal in capability while economy differences are not huge.

As for the CUV/SUVs, I think there are too many and not enough to differentiate between them: EcoSport, Escape, Edge, Explorer, Expedition. I think the EcoSport and Escape can be combined to fill the small CUV lineup. The Edge I think is a perfect mid-size CUV. The Explorer and Expedition should be combined to fill the large CUV/SUV lineup. Combining models may result in the need to create a new/updated model, but I think it would make more sense economically (for both business and buyer). It may require offering some additional powertrain options or packages to help fill the niches, but I think it would be better in the long run. Otherwise, the lineup choice is just too oversaturated.
 
Daroller said:
That's sad. I have a 2017 Focus RS and it's an incredible machine (head gasket issue notwithstanding). I've never smiled so much driving a car before in my life.
Click to expand...

Too bad many people think anything that has less than 6 cylinders shouldn't even be considered.
 
Tsumi said:
I plan to get a Lincoln Town Car :D

And the LT1 swap it (gen V version).
Click to expand...
I'd love to LT/LS swap a Lincoln. Too bad we are on the wrong side of the road here, because a Lincoln with an 800hp NA 456 billet LS Next would be rad, bit of spray around 1000 wheel hahahaha!
 
Zumino Zufeilon said:
Honestly not sure I believe this.

The Ford Fiesta is consistently one of the top selling cars worldwide, I can hardly see them stopping production of it, because it doesn't sell in the US.

I can see the cutting the US line, which is a shame b/c Fiesta's and Focus's are lots of fun to drive.

Taurus can die in a shallow unmarked grave IMO. Such a terrible, terrible car.
Click to expand...

They never said the cars arent selling. They just said they dont make any money selling them. Bottom line is they make more money on SUV's and performance cars, so they are sticking to those due to higher profit margin. Also keep in mind that Ford (like 2 years ago) essentially conceded that mass transit will take over the "average" consumer market for transportation. They are working on providing that infrastructure as well. So this is something they have been hinting towards fro quite a while.
 
nutzo said:
What is an American car? You can buy a Chrysler built in Canada, a Ford built in Mexico, or a Toyota built in the US.

When I bought the wife a Toyota Sienna back in 2006, it had the highest American made content of any minivan, including ones made by American companies.
Click to expand...

While I technically agree with you, the money funnels back into american companies. So I consider it more of a shell game of where the money goes. Does it go to the blue collar or the company itself? I'm hoping in time that Ford, GM, and Chrysler start to return manufacturing to the US.
 
Spidey329 said:
I want to say that this decision is because of the EPA reg changes. Iirc, your catalog MPG average was used to offset lower-MPG miles like trucks/SUVs, so you needed high-MPG (usually cheaper, lower margin) cars to keep above the regulated limit. Without those regs, they no longer need to offer these high-MPG smaller cars and can focus their production on gas guzzlers.

The American people have a short term memory and don't remember high-oil prices, so they're going to want those big cars again. Rinse and repeat the cycle of idiocy when oil prices rise and people have to dump their unnecessarily large vehicles.
Click to expand...

Annnnnndddddd, you are saying this to someone who drives a base Mini Cooper (over 40MPG). The Wife has a Lexus, but even it get 32MPG on the highway. Careful about lumping everyone into one pot, it will usually end badly for you.

I am struggling to find a decent replacement for the Cooper. BMW has wrecked the Mini brand.

Daroller said:
I've driven the new mustangs, and I can't understand why they're popular. They're heavy, huge, and squishy everywhere. They're a middle of the road grand touring car, not a performance car.

I agree you get a lot of car for the money, though.
Click to expand...

Hehe, you have not driven the new Boss 302, or the GT500, have you? The Boss 302 is as close to a race car as it gets and still be street legal. They both handle like they are on rails.

tbonepat11 said:
F-150 and Mustangs are their most important cars anyway. F-150 sales are massive.
Click to expand...

Cannot turn a corner here without seeing a Mustang. They are everywhere here. The F150 trucks are almost as bad.
 
Last edited:
Spidey329 said:
I want to say that this decision is because of the EPA reg changes. Iirc, your catalog MPG average was used to offset lower-MPG miles like trucks/SUVs, so you needed high-MPG (usually cheaper, lower margin) cars to keep above the regulated limit. Without those regs, they no longer need to offer these high-MPG smaller cars and can focus their production on gas guzzlers.

The American people have a short term memory and don't remember high-oil prices, so they're going to want those big cars again. Rinse and repeat the cycle of idiocy when oil prices rise and people have to dump their unnecessarily large vehicles.
Click to expand...

You would be incorrect. Trucks are NOT exempt. There's a truck target MPG and car target MPG and they combine into the Fleet Average MPG and that is weighted based on sales numbers. So yes truck MPG matters. They have to meet ALL 3 numbers.
 
Zumino Zufeilon said:
Honestly not sure I believe this.

The Ford Fiesta is consistently one of the top selling cars worldwide, I can hardly see them stopping production of it, because it doesn't sell in the US.

I can see the cutting the US line, which is a shame b/c Fiesta's and Focus's are lots of fun to drive.

Taurus can die in a shallow unmarked grave IMO. Such a terrible, terrible car.
Click to expand...
The Fiesta has terrible sales in the US. And Ford isn't ending production of these vehicles. They just won't be producing them in the US market. Keep in mind, so far this year, Ford has sold twice as many F150's as they have the Focus, Fusion and Fiesta, Combined.

Personally, I don't like the move, but in these segments, they just don't compete well against other makers.
 
So did they roll back emission standards? One of the reasons for keeping these around is so when their "more popular" gas guzzler models hit the roads there us a ford focus or something to average it out

If SUV ever lose the "light trucks" classification...
 
Unter Dog said:
585864+500723=1086587, 1086587 > 896764

https://www.tfltruck.com/2018/01/2017-pickup-truck-usa-sales-war-summary-won/

Summary from the link:

Full-Size Truck Sales (USA) – Year 2017

YTD 2017 # YTD 2017/2016 %
Ford F-Series 896,764 9.3%
Chevrolet Silverado 585,864 1.9%
Ram 500,723 2.0%
GMC Sierra 217,943 -1.7%
Toyota Tundra 116,285 0.7%
Nissan Titan 52,924 141.9%


Finally, here are the 2017 sales totals across all pickups.

YTD Brand Total
1st. All GM pickups 948,909
2nd. All Ford pickups 896,764
3rd. All Ram pickups 500,723
4th. All Toyota pickups 314,409
5th. All Nissan pickups 127,284
6th. All Honda pickups 34,749
Click to expand...

Props to you - I was in the process of composing a similar list (limited to "classic" domestics: Ford, GM, and FCA to address the original claim of Ford outselling Ram and Chevy combined)...and thank you for also including US built Nissan and Toyota.
 
The whole crossover SUV market is all cranking out the same product right now. Ford, Chevy, Mazda, Nissan, Toyota, etc. I can barely tell the difference between them and I even own one.
Ford's an even bigger offender since they have the Escape and Edge essentially competing directly with one another.
From the outside it feels like they could probably consolidate the Ecosport, Escape, and Edge into one vehicle line while retaining the Fusion and/or one compact.
 
Now that Ford no longer has different cars for Europe than North America, they can make this change with no impact to their future needs. If next year gas prices top $4 again, then they will bring back the Focus and Festiva and Fusion. Those are still selling well in other parts of the world with expensive gas and tightly-packed cities.

The SUV has obliterated car sales in this nation. So it's no surprise they'd ditch the poor sellers here.

But there are far too many options they could cull, instead of just taking them all outside and shooting it dead.
 
Last edited:
nutzo said:
It's not that people are not buying sedans, it's that people are not buying FORD sedans.

Honda and Toyota are still selling a ton of them.
Click to expand...

http://www.motortrend.com/news/midsize-sedan-sales-toyota-camry-leads-in-a-declining-segment/

Selling a ton, but fewer and fewer every year. And its not like they're not selling any - 43K cars to date this year, 14K a month. The entire market is "collapsing", and Ford can't figure out how to make money at it so just exiting. I don't understand the focus elimination, I do understand the Taurus elimination. And if you eliminate taurus, maybe Some of those sales would have gone to fusion. But if you're not making money at them... why continue?

lucidrenegade said:
The problem with the Taurus is that it has *less* interior room than the Fusion. It's needed to move to a new platform for years, but Ford never did it (outside of China).
Click to expand...

Agreed - the Taurus and, to a lesser extent, the Explorer, are the reverse Tardis of the car world. Bigger on the outside, smaller on the inside. The fusion feels bigger than the Taurus when you sit in it - especially the back seat. When I rented a Taurus a while back, I was very disappointed with the interior room given the exterior size. Made no sense.

defaultluser said:
Now that Ford no longer has different cars for Europe than North America, they can make this change with no impact to their future needs. If next year gas prices top $4 again, then they will bring back the Focus and Festiva and Fusion. Those are still selling well in other parts of the world with expensive gas and tightly-packed cities.

The SUV has obliterated car sales in this nation. So it's no surprise they'd ditch the poor sellers here.

But there are far too many options they could cull, instead of just taking them all outside and shooting it dead.
Click to expand...

Agreed that with their "world car" approach they can re-import their euro models to the US if things turn around.



BB
 
Own a 2011 V6 Mustang. It's a great car - solid gas mileage, good horsepower, incredibly smooth, fun to drive.

Unfortunately, they nerfed the hell out of the Mustang after 2015. Looks like a Miata hybrid. Less space, worse gas mileage, less horsepower. Probably designed to cater to the European market and their bitch ass roads.

Not surprised they are dumping their other cars. I drove one of the Focus's in 2009 and it was a terrible car. Terrible handling, no suspension - just awful. My cousin defended (because it was cheap/Ford), but there was just no excuse. I looked at the Fusions recently, but they were dogs (if you look at the P/W ratio), even if their gas mileage was good. Kia beat them on value and Toyota beat them on MPG.

Their FX50s are selling like hotcakes and they can charge $65K for a premium F350 (+$30K over base) for just a few electronics. The margins on those must be huge. My brother-in-law just bought one for his work and he was a GM fan. He said it was no contest to GM and Chrysler. They lacked the features.
 
Last edited:
Cars just dont sell as well as trucks and suv's and the profit margin is far higher then in cars. This always goes on in the American market as gas gets cheaper car sales go down and when gas goes back up car sales rebound and trucks and suv's take a beating. Will see if the cycle repeats again and leaves the automakers scrambling again.
 
sleepeeg3 said:
Own a 2011 V6 Mustang. It's a great car - solid gas mileage, good horsepower, incredibly smooth, fun to drive.

Unfortunately, they nerfed the hell out of the Mustang after 2015. Looks like a Miata hybrid. Less space, worse gas mileage, less horsepower. Probably designed to cater to the European market and their bitch ass roads.
Click to expand...

uh, whut?

Yeah, they derated the V6 so they could push the Ecoboost, but the ecoboost with the ford approved re-tune beats the V6, and the V8 has more HP and torque than the previous version of the coyote. Back seat has less room, agreed, but front's fine, and it does handle better. *shrug* The sales success of the new version would indicate your opinion is the minority opinion. :)

Not surprised they are dumping their other cars. I drove one of the Focus's in 2009 and it was a terrible car. Terrible handling, no suspension - just awful. My cousin defended (because it was cheap/Ford), but there was just no excuse. I looked at the Fusions recently, but they were dogs (if you look at the P/W ratio), even if their gas mileage was good. Kia beat them on value and Toyota beat them on MPG.
Click to expand...

They were good for a while, but they didn't keep up. Still not terrible cars, just getting outclassed by improving competition while they suffer recalls. They still sell 13K-14k a month of them, they just can't make money on them for whatever reason.

BB < - owns 2012 v6 convertible and 2014 GT
14322266_10205603565083385_4893631455019206768_n.jpg
 
tbonepat11 said:
F-150 and Mustangs are their most important cars anyway. F-150 sales are massive.
Click to expand...

Yes, Ford has things figured out for trucks.

Never drove a Fusion, but the Taurus is... boring. Really. I hear the SHO is awesome, but the regular stuff is meh.

And the Focus MK1 is just the nicest "economy" (that's in the US, back where I come from it's luxury! LOL) car from that time period.

To me it seems that they really don't want to sell the cheap stuff. It's not so much that the cars are bad, but it really feels they're almost forced to do so, thus when things go wrong they keep winging it and hoping it goes away. I worked at a Ford dealership, and really, nobody cares about the "tiny" stuff, including Ford.
 
I had a 2012 Fusion Sport. Traded it in at 100k. Never gave me one bit of trouble. That's just my 2 cents though, I'm sure experiences may vary.
 
The Fiesta ST with the Ricarro seats was a WTF...not for larger framed (or big boned) Americans...very uncomfortable and felt like you were sitting on top of the seat bolsters. If you are just under 6ft or taller, forget sitting in the back. Now the Focus ST was a bit bigger on the inside, seats fit better for some reason and you could sit in the back without having to cock your head. Front Wheel Drive?? Torque Steer was bad on Focus, and not as noticeable on Fiesta...of course because of the HP.

Focus RS...had some issues with head gaskets blowing, torque steer, overheating rear diff. I would've got one except all the dealers were asking +5K above MSRP for them...yeah no thanks.

Never got to ride in the Taurus SHO of the latest Generation. I had a 2nd Gen, My sister had a 3rd Gen...the Taurus line of car just kept getting larger and larger...felt like a land yacht with alot of HP (SHO).

I do like there F-150 and F-250 lines, but man are they proud. Would rather for someone who has to have the newest truck on the lot and buy his used one.

I have been digging the new Mustangs, and keep trying to talk my wife into a GT for herself...she currently wants a 370Z...I cant argue too much.
 
My Grand Marquis is probably going to be the last Ford product I own for awhile anyway. I used to be stoked for the new Lincoln Continental, but the more I looked at it, the more I saw the Taurus base shining through. I hate the Taurus, and I hate that the Lincoln lineup has absolutely nothing that differentiates them from the main Ford lineup despite being on the same platforms, except maybe more luxury garbage on the inside.
 
sleepeeg3 said:
Own a 2011 V6 Mustang. It's a great car - solid gas mileage, good horsepower, incredibly smooth, fun to drive.

Unfortunately, they nerfed the hell out of the Mustang after 2015. Looks like a Miata hybrid. Less space, worse gas mileage, less horsepower. Probably designed to cater to the European market and their bitch ass roads.
Click to expand...

Looks are subjective so no point in really talking about that, but I think we now have someone complaining that the Mustang is too big, and another person too small, in the same thread.

And an unqualified statement of "less horsepower"? Care to explain that? You talking about the 5 HP derating on the V6?

Their FX50s are selling like hotcakes and they can charge $65K for a premium F350 (+$30K over base) for just a few electronics. The margins on those must be huge. My brother-in-law just bought one for his work and he was a GM fan. He said it was no contest to GM and Chrysler. They lacked the features.
Click to expand...

Ford is absolutely a bunch of bastards when it comes to option pricing and combining something everyone wants with a bunch of shit no one really cares much about, but "30k for just a few electronics" is so hyperbolic as to be nonsense.
 
Ford's sedans and luxury vehicles started going down hill after the release of the 1972 Lincoln Continental Mark IV. Talk about a comfy car that could blast through any snow mound
 
SamuraiInBlack said:
My Grand Marquis is probably going to be the last Ford product I own for awhile anyway. I used to be stoked for the new Lincoln Continental, but the more I looked at it, the more I saw the Taurus base shining through. I hate the Taurus, and I hate that the Lincoln lineup has absolutely nothing that differentiates them from the main Ford lineup despite being on the same platforms, except maybe more luxury garbage on the inside.
Click to expand...

I guess that's true for most luxury brands as of now, especially American ones.
 
Dead Parrot said:
Not totally surprising. Cars have been shrinking for decades. My first was a 68 two door Impala. Could carry 6 comfortably, 8 if you didn't mind getting a bit cozy, more if some sat on laps. Had enough trunk space to carry luggage for six or more. The current crop of "full sized sedans" are often doing good to seat four comfortably and trunk space is often limited. Sometimes head room for the back two passengers is limited. Even the small SUVs seem to be shrinking. The current Ford Escape looks like a sedan with a raised roof. Many new trucks are sold in the 4 door short bed configuration which can seat 5 comfortably with a large with a large trunk.

I think the 4 door PU with short bed has become the new American full sized sedan.

Several articles covering Ford have indicated that EVs and plug in hybids are in the works.
Click to expand...

The 68 impala 2door was AWESOME ! Especially in that bright blue they had. Little warmed up 327, TH400, nice Holly 650SB, dual exhaust and a 4:10 posi 12 Bolt and you had one damn fine street machine !
 
jardows said:
One less clone of every other mid-sized sedan out there. The Ford, Nissan, Chevy, Kia, etc., all look pretty much the same for the last couple of years. It isn't a bad looking design, but when everyone is making their cars look exactly the same, one less manufacturer isn't going to be missed.
Click to expand...
Mainly because everyone is copying Ford's designs, because they were so popular when they hit. They're due for a refresh, but killing them altogether is more a typical GM move (who would rather have someone else make the cars & trucks while they rake in the cash on GMAC).

With fuel prices creeping up, I think Ford is gonna take it in the shorts with this move (if it actually happens). GM and Chrysler owners are gonna start screaming when fuel hits $4+/gallon; and if Ford does bail, they'll be stuck holding the bag too while Toyota/Honda/et al take over for good.
 
matt167 said:
I had a 2014 Fusion Ecoboost for a short time. I didn't keep it long. Wasn't all that economical or fun to drive but it wasn't 'bad'... Ford Escort and Taurus were cars that were very popular. Taurus by 2006 was kept alive by mostly government fleet orders for 2007. Actually took it away from the public in 2006 when they wanted to kill production. It was the number 1 fleet car IIRC. 1986-2007 selling pretty much an identical car. There is a reason it lasted that long.. When the Focus came in 2001 it was a steaming turd pile. and only got mechanically better with the years. They still suffered cheap interiors, broken door latches ect. People bought them because they were either cheap or brand loyal. There wasn't much of a reason to own one unless you had expected quality from the Escort
Click to expand...
My late-wife's 2012 Focus was a great car: drove well, handled well, got up and ran like a scalded cat, and had a pretty.good interior for the base-level SE. The engine was strong, and got 30+mpg on the highway; and, we both thought it was a great looking car.

My present roommate just got a 2016 Fiesta, and that's just as fun, just as quick, and gets even better fuel milage. And still looks damn good, IMHO.
 
Brian_B said:
Hmm wonder how this affects them in the federal MPG mandates. I know Trump Admin just rolled back some pretty strict ones, and they don't apply to Commercial trucks (although that's defined somewhat loosely). I was under the impression that a lot of those crappy-ugly-50mpg models (C-Max, lower end FIestas, etc) were just so the Automaker could say they have available in their fleet, so they could meet the EPA requirements.

Maybe Ford has gotten good enough at Ecoboost that they don't need the sedans to offset any more. Maybe they are selling more 250's/350's and those don't apply to the rules, I don't know. Ford has been on again-off again with Hybrid, it doesn't seem to have clicked with them, and they have went all in with turbos.

Kind of ironic, since before Toyota Camry/Prius got big, it was the Ford Taurus that was the King Sedan for many years.

I also wonder how this trickles down to Lincoln.
Click to expand...
What's really odd is the new 2019 Ranger--supposedly, they originally dropped the Ranger line because the full-size F150 with the Ecoboost got better fuel economy ..
 
Brian_B said:
Not necessarily disagreeing with you, but GM did drop the Camero/Firebird. Dodge had dropped the Charger. Those were their iconic muscle cars and a big part of their branding. I guess GM still had Corvette in their garage, and Dodge has kinda rotated through a cast of cars over the years (Stealth/Viper), but that isn't exactly the same style or image.
Click to expand...
Ford at one point tried to drop the Mustang (during the Probe years), but the fans saved it. Now.its not only the hottest pony car out there, it looks damned good doing it.

GM & Chrysler totally fucked themselves with the camaro/firebird and charger/challenger failures (meaning they didn't make something that could compete with the mustang and be viable). But this is what happens when marketing and accounting wonks run a company.
 
nutzo said:
It's not that people are not buying sedans, it's that people are not buying FORD sedans.

Honda and Toyota are still selling a ton of them.
Click to expand...
I think a bigger part of this is the 5-year buy cycle that's gotten longer (6-7 years now), and the industry is in the middle of the cycle, meaning sales are seriously depressed.
 
Dekar12 said:
If they focused in on 1-2 engines, making less packages available, and make all of the elements a quality vehicle and not some cheap junk. If people want cheaper vehicles, that is where they can buy a cheaper model line.
Click to expand...
That's basically what Ford has been doing since the intro of the Fiesta/Focus/Fusion/Escape/Edge/Explorer/Taurus (all of which I see a metric fuckton out there). All share the same basic I4/V6 packages, all Ecoboost engines sans turbos. They all have similar transmissions, the autobox getting better economy than the manual.

What's killing them, IMHO, is the low-point on the buy cycle coupled with cheap gas (on it's way out, btw) and designs overdue for refresh. Build quality hasn't fallen off from what I've seen, so the only other factor I can see is people are hanging on to their 3-5yo cars because they just can't afford to extend into yet another contract, especially with the uncertainty floating around, and overall drop in income.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top