Business Ford to stop selling every car in North America but the Mustang and Focus Active

yahoo business ^ | 4.25.18 | Matt Burns

[central_va]

Ford today announced it will phase out most cars it sells in North America. According to its latest financial release, the auto giant will "will transition to two vehicles" being the Mustang and an unannounced vehicle, the Focus Active, as 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 into the next generation sedans. The Taurus is no more.

[for-q-clinton]

What I thought too. Something has to be wrong on this.

[Cedar]

Too bad...the Ford Fusion is a nice affordable car that looks good too.

Ford must be quietly preparing for the future of driver-less cars.

[TruthWillWin]

The last sedan we bought was in 2003. SUV is all we have bought since.

[Dr. Sivana]

Didn’t they get rid of station wagons and replace them with minivans and SUVs?

There was overlap. I mention station wagons because my wife drives a 1994 Buick Roadmaster that seats eight. But just as minivans and SUVs supplanted full-sized station wagons, small SUVs supplant cars. Minivans are fading away. The only ones I know of now are from Chrysler/Fiat, Honda and Toyota. Chrysler's newest iteration was not well-received, and the segment is withering.

[Alberta's Child]

Then call the Ford family and tell them what you think.

I can't blame them. There are a few Ford people who have posted on FR over the years, and they've laid out the problem a company like Ford faces very clearly.

Basically, this is what Ford is up against ...

Between the cost of their union labor and the regulatory environment here in the U.S., it costs so much money to produce even a simple compact car that they've effectively priced themselves out of the market for compact and mid-sized cars. A reasonably equipped Ford Fusion will cost you in the mid-$20,000 range, and many prospective buyers just figure they may as well spend a few more dollars to get an SUV or crossover vehicle.

[aomagrat]

The Ford Explorer should do real well on the NASCAR tracks.

[jjotto]

Actually, Ford already announced that the nex gen Focus will be built in China instead of its current build location, Mexico.

http://autoweek.com/article/car-news/ford-losing-focus-small-sedans-and-hatchbacks

...Starting next year, Ford will go about a year without building a single Focus for North America — and the market may not even notice. Production for North America will end in Michigan in mid-2018 and won’t begin in China until mid- to late 2019, the automaker said...

[Alberta's Child]

I suspect Ford will end up selling more of them overseas than here in the U.S.

[21twelve]

Are the brake pedals on the Ford trucks still way up in the air? Years ago that’s all our company had was Ford trucks and vans. I hated driving them in traffic as my foot had to be lifted up onto the brake pedal - couldn’t rest my heel on the floor and brake at the same time. (6-foot tall, size 11 shoe - so no I’m not a “little person”.)

I think the way of a “cheap” truck is long gone now.

[crz]

Just like Ford. Build something that is good and then quit making it.

I got a Ford Ranger. Best little truck I ever had. So what’d they do? Quit making it here. I guess they said they were going to start with it again but the dam thing is about the size of a F 150 from what I hear.

[butlerweave]

Smells like an electric fire

[KavMan]

Who's going to buy a Taurus when you can get something better, more reliable & better resale value in The Honda Accord & Toyota Camry?

[central_va]

Do you now how much labor costs per car? What is the industry average? I know, do you?

[jjotto]

They already do.

Europe by itself buys many more Focuses than the USA. In Europe, it’s considered a family car.

[Charles Martel]

The Focus Active is already sort of a crossover, like a mix of the Focus hatchback and the C-Max. I can see it replacing both of those existing models, since there was some redundancy already. I'll bet it'll be available is basic, economy form, hybrid (or plug-in hybrid), and the existing Focus RS AWD will probably reappear as a Focus Active variant, too.

I'm not surprised that the Fiesta, Fusion and Taurus are departing - but I wonder what will become of the Taurus-based Explorer? They still sell a lot of those.

[Alberta's Child]

It's probably about $2,500 per vehicle. But that only includes their own labor.

How about the labor involved in every step of the process -- including the construction of their plants?

[Alberta's Child]

Europe is pathetic. LOL.

[Gene Eric]

>> The Taurus is no more.

The Turtle represented notable innovations in auto engineering.

Is the assembly line that sophisticated to support only two sedans without losses?

[max americana]

No sh*t. I own the F150 too as my “piss of liberals with my gas guzzler” vehicle.

[A Formerly Proud Canadian]

So they will be exiting the po-po market? The Taurus is the basis for the Ford 'Police Interceptor Sedan'. Maybe they will make a 'police interceptor' version of the 'Focus Active'. After all, Chrysler sold a 'police special' K car in the '80s and many police departments in Quebec, including the SQ, (Provincial Police) bought them. I doubt that they were much good as highway pursuit vehicles, but for throwing spike belts, they were prolly OK.