That is still a niche market which did not transfer to regular sales. Ford has been struggling in the large sedan market.
I am seeing more and more Explorers being used by the local police here.
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Ford is Cutting Car Production Back to Just Mustang and Focus Active Models
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That is still a niche market which did not transfer to regular sales. Ford has been struggling in the large sedan market.
I am seeing more and more Explorers being used by the local police here.
Unabomber
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On one hand, I'm rather surprised, since Ford was the only American car manufacturer that seemed to have its head screwed on straight throughout the years (compared to the others). As an owner of a 2010 Ford Fusion S, I can say that it's actually a pretty good car, with reasonably good punch, good gas mileage, and reliability. Yes, it's just a 4 cylinder engine, but it's surprisingly good when it comes to acceleration, especially for a mid sized car based on that 4 banger. My mother in law, has a 2014 Fusion (V6), and it's a solid performer.
On the other hand, it's not very surprising that they'd trim back some some models, since Montu is right, that the general market for "family" vehicles has been trending towards the SUV for a long time now. If you can't make a decent profit on a line of vehicles, then it only makes sense to drop it.
On the other hand, it's not very surprising that they'd trim back some some models, since Montu is right, that the general market for "family" vehicles has been trending towards the SUV for a long time now. If you can't make a decent profit on a line of vehicles, then it only makes sense to drop it.
From a Crown Vic? Huh. So instead of using parts from their pretty tough truck line on SUVs they used parts from an even larger and heavier vehical class, the land battleships known as Crown Vics! Haha, those crown vics are pretty beefy cars.
Let's be honest, 99% of large SUVs never even see a gravel road, much less pull a trailer of hay/produce/whatever through a rutted up dirt field. Road handling is more important for their market. I'm not singling out Ford, that's the whole SUV market.
Few of us actually buy one to take it off road.
The most common reason to "use" them for heavier work than a car is towing a trailer of some kind. Having a heavy duty car front end makes sense. Its on a road, and the trailer weight is on the back wheels not the front.
Sounds good for the value of my RS.....
A judge already blocked that rollback, so if ford drops their higher MPG cars it's going to kill their average. But, the article also says they want to bring the hyrbid model to the F150s, so maybe they are hoping that balances it out.
A judge already blocked that rollback, so if ford drops their higher MPG cars it's going to kill their average. But, the article also says they want to bring the hyrbid model to the F150s, so maybe they are hoping that balances it out.
ThatsAgood1jay
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This is false, Ford has consistently gained in market share for the past year, and as always, the F series truck outsold Ram and Chevy's trucks combined.
Actually the opposite, Lincoln is expanding because clearly the market wants big luxurious cars, they will drop the MKZ, but Continental will continue but probably move even higher up the luxury line, the Navigator is selling out everwhere, and every auto journalist went nuts when they revealed the Aviator concept.
Please don't be 'that guy' and buy a fullsize truck for a family vehicle.
In general, I think the market for a mid sized non luxury model is dead. There is no margin there, and the competition is too fierce. I was most surprised by their abandonment of the compact segment, because they are a global leader in the segment with the Focus and Fiesta. I think they've executed both vehicles very poorly in the U.S. They tried to take on Kia and flooded the market with stripper models that were still a few thousand more than the foreign equivalents. They should have instead made them premium sub-compacts with all the options. They should have marketed heavily against VW when DieselGate was on everyones mind. Why the Passat/Golf are so popular is beyond me as their extremely overpriced vs the competition.
In the long run, Gas prices will only rise. So abandoning the segment I think is a poor choice. But so long as they do not dismantle the 'Global Ford' mantra instituted under Mulally, they can easily pivot back to small cars.
A CUV is an answer to a question nobody asked for, and is proof people cannot be expected to make wise purchasing decisions. Nothing about them is better than a Sedan.
To be honest, this makes no sense. The focus and fusion models are highly popular....they have been very successful in the last few years, people love the fusion, myself included. My last 2 cars were ford fusions, and they just announced the 2019 fusion edition, so I don't know where this is coming from. Very Strange. Maybe down the line eventually they would be slimming the models, but I can't imagine that would be anytime soon it would be very foolish.
JosiahBradley
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Ford sold something other than the F-150, wow! I love seeing those thing driving down city streets empty.
Things that have worked against Ford sedans:
1: That terrible sync infotainment cluster they got into and tried to fix over and over again for years
2: Not being able to kill the Taurus. Taurus and Fusion compete against each other
3: Generic styling on the Fusion
4: Not refreshing the Taurus
5: Butt ugly Fiesta
6: The C-Max (was it solely to hit Cafe quotas?)
7: Half ass hybrids trims of whatever they could cram a battery into with the bonus of 50% trunk space disappearing and being blocked.
1: That terrible sync infotainment cluster they got into and tried to fix over and over again for years
2: Not being able to kill the Taurus. Taurus and Fusion compete against each other
3: Generic styling on the Fusion
4: Not refreshing the Taurus
5: Butt ugly Fiesta
6: The C-Max (was it solely to hit Cafe quotas?)
7: Half ass hybrids trims of whatever they could cram a battery into with the bonus of 50% trunk space disappearing and being blocked.
DuronBurgerMan
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Crown Vic was one of the last body-on-frame cars made, IIRC. These days, only trucks are made that way. So cribbing Crown Vic parts for Truck/SUV lineups back then actually makes some kind of sense.
YeuEmMaiMai
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lol I cut my driving teeth on a land battleship and this is what I find to be true
butter smooth ride
interiors held up very well
much quieter than today's cars
Armenius
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I was actually looking at decomissioned police interceptors to have as a beater. I've seen 3-year old ones with around 50k miles going for just $4k.
SPARTAN VI
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Given a second read, the title makes this seem like they're going to only produce 2 models. But in actuality it sounds like they're only cutting present model Taurus, Fusion, Focus, and Cmax (and maybe 1 or 2 other that I missed).
Armenius
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Technically, it does. If what you're reading would be true it would read "automobiles" or "vehicles" instead of "car."
They're cutting every car out of the USDM except all Mustangs. The Focus they're keeping in this market is a CUV. Everything else will be a van, truck, SUV or CUV.
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
What does it matter? There's no Mark, so kill it off. I still have my Mark VIII and its a stunning car.
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.
lucidrenegade
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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).
I bought a Ford Explorer in 1995. Least reliable car I every owned.
It had more problems than every other car I owned before it (4) or since (3), Based on costs, it had more problems than all the other cars I've every owned, combined.
Luckily I bought the extended warranty, one of my best purchase decisions ever.
lucidrenegade
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The Columbus, OH police department is only buying Explorers now.
lucidrenegade
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I used to buy Fords, but my last 2 vehicles have been Kia Sorentos. Better quality, better warranty, better looking IMO, and cost less. And they're actually built in the USA. West Point, GA.
freeloader1969
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If you drive a new Mustang you'll understand why they're so popular.
Equivalent performance vehicles can cost upwards of 80K plus.Man, those were the days. Crown Vics, Caprices and others made for wonderful highway trips. Couldn't help but to fall asleep.
freeloader1969
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I have a 2006 Mustang GT and a 2009 Ford Escape. Only real problems I've had with the Escape is front end suspension issues. Never a problem with the GT besides normal wear items (brakes, clutch, etc...). I guess I'm just lucky.
Parja
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Huh, new Fusion Sports are already selling quite a bit below sticker. Gonna keep an eye on the market and see how desparate dealers get to move them.
freeloader1969
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They're readying a 2019 or 2020 hybrid Mustang.
I can't see that being helpful on a mustang.... It's just a lot of unnecessary weight to a car that already has a ton of low end torque.
freeloader1969
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Add electric motors at all four corners with the grunt (torque) that only an electric motor can provide and you've got one bitchin' 0 to 60 ride. My guess is they'll probably use the 4 cylinder 2.3L EBoost or the 6 cylinder 3.5L EBoost engine with some sort of hybrid setup.
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.
CPD is almost entirely Ford Explorers now. You still see the odd Tahoe, Taurus, and Crown Vic, but I suspect those will be phased out soon enough.
Tsumi
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Too bad Ford never updated the Crown Vic with the Coyote engine. Or gave it the Cobra engine like the Mercury Marauder.
High volume does not always equal high profits. Sometimes lower sales with higher margins makes more money overall.
I plan to get a Lincoln Town Car
And the LT1 swap it (gen V version).
I would consider a Lincoln Town Car. Almost the same vehicle but much more luxurious. I'm looking for a Town Car to handle towing duties when the truck bed of our Mega Cab isn't needed.
DukenukemX
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Not a big surprise considering that Ford cars are sorta dispossable, with the exception of the Mustang. People want quality today and Ford isn't it. I expect Chevy to be right behind Ford doing the same thing. Though to be frank I don't consider Ford often when it comes to buying cars. The Ford Escape was attractive until the engines blow up, which is common.
SparkedFire
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Don't forget, they are testing making their vehicles in China. This maximum profit model may wind up ruining the brand, not to mention, if we ever have another long term issue with oil prices...
Geforcepat
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welp. I am 110% confident that we'll get most of the new focus line save the estate/wagon. I've got a 2012 focus only thing so far is the tcm went out a year ago replaced under extended warranty. been ok since. during repairs I drove a 15 Taurus limited and was impressed. still like my focus though.
never understood the need for 18 choices of vehicle. Just have your low, mid, high and be done with it.
why did Chevy need to make the cruise and Pontiac G5 which were the same car but two names? Same for other make and models where one physical car has two names.
why did Chevy need to make the cruise and Pontiac G5 which were the same car but two names? Same for other make and models where one physical car has two names.
Daroller
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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.
That's like 1000+lbs of extra weight between the batteries and motors.... It's going to take that eletric oomph to just to keep the 0-60 times of a regulare ICE.
I do like electric cars though, nothing like 100% torque right off the line. But, not a hyrbrid which is kinda like the worst of both worlds.
Same here, I love my smurf. This is only going to help the value of our cars once the HG fiasco is in the past. Especially since even if the mk4 hybrid silliness comes out, it won't be in the US. Plus the new gen focii are being manufactured in china now.... no effing thanks. I'll keep my german built 'murcan hatch.
Daroller
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If you drive a new Mustang you'll understand why they're so popular.
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.