Wow.
Ford (F) said on Wednesday the only passenger car models it plans to keep on the market in North America will be the Mustang and the upcoming Ford Focus Active, a crossover-like hatchback that’s slated to debut in 2019.
That means the Fiesta, Taurus, Fusion and the regular Focus will disappear in the United States and Canada.Ford will, however, continue to offer its full gamut of trucks, SUVs and crossovers.
Personally, I prefer a car, but I don’t like the Mustang or the Focus. Guess I won’t be buying another Ford for a while. But they clearly know their market and are focusing on what consumers want.
It’s a sign of the times, though who would have thought ten years ago there would be only three passenger minivans left for the exact same reason? In terms of cars, Fiat Chrysler is down to the subcompact Fiat 500 and full-size Dodge Challenger/Charger/Chrysler 300, and GM is axing the Chevrolet Impala (which, along with the previously-axed SS, takes Chevrolet out of the full-size car market) and Sonic (the larger of their two subcompacts) after the 2018 model year.
The question is whether either of the Lincoln badge-engineered sedans, the mid-sized MKZ (based on the Fusion, refreshed last year) or the full-sized Continental (reintroduced last year, also loosely based on the Fusion, but more the Chinese-market Taurus, and built alongside the Mustang), survive.
That leaves Toyota and Nissan as the only full-service car manufacturers in the North American market.
I forgot about the Kia Sedona and Ford’s re-entry into the passenger minivan market with the Transit Connect Wagon, but given their weak sales, who can blame me?
One more consideration – CAFE. Given SUVs, and indeed most crossovers, qualify as “light trucks”, and their rising mileage standards are quite a bit lower than those of cars, it makes perfect sense for Ford and FCA to abandon the “car” market and put out nothing but tall wagons.
“Thank” you, Obama.
Chrysler, Honda, Toyota, and KIA all make mini-vans….the Transit Connect is a micro-van–only 5 passengers.
It’s not CAFE, although that’s a good ‘secondary’ reason. Fact is, nobody is buying sedans. Chrysler could not compete with the 200 and Dodge twin so they bailed. Chevy can’t sell the Malibu–which is really a pretty good car. For that matter the Impala is a home run in terms of comfort, ride quality, spaciousness and economy—and nobody buys them. Honda is having trouble selling its Civic (!) which is also a very nice product.
Very strange market. And if the sedan ever returns, will FoMoCo be able to pull a “TA-DAH!!” and get back into it?
Thanks for the update Steve . That loaded 2017 Impala I bought a month ago just lost even more value just sitting in my garage
And I thought 25% off list was a good deal until I read this .
MHM: do not confuse “value” for “price.” Far too many car-buyers cannot keep those terms separate and find out–several years too late–that the meanings of the words are actually different.