What is Ford Doing???
05-02-2018, 07:49 PM
#2
Race Director
Operating like a smart business should. Their sedans sell at a loss, cost a ton in r & d, and no matter how good of a car they build it will always be considered second tier to Honda and Toyota by the tiny segment of the population that wants to buy a sedan.
People want crossovers, and the fuel economy difference has been erased. Even if gas prices were to rise again, it wouldn't cause sales of sedans to increase.
Ford is finally making a halfway smart decision. Now they need to fix their problem with the price of new stuff.
People want crossovers, and the fuel economy difference has been erased. Even if gas prices were to rise again, it wouldn't cause sales of sedans to increase.
Ford is finally making a halfway smart decision. Now they need to fix their problem with the price of new stuff.
05-03-2018, 05:00 PM
#4
Drifting
I'd surmise eventually all American auto manufacturers are going to pull out of the small car / small sedan market. They're getting plummeted by Japanese marques and Euro (mainly German) marques.
Ford had a rough go with the Fiesta and the Focus (I actually own a Fiesta...). Final production of both are in Mexico to cut costs, but the quality of both have taken dramatic dives over their European counterparts and Ford has done VERY little to nothing to remedy the issue because that would equal $$$$$ that they have to spend.
Chevrolet I would bet are going to be next. My big not-automotive-conspiracy-theory is that both the Volt and Bolt have ultimately been "development models" where eventually the tech GM has been throwing into both are going to move into the CUV segment, and GM will simply market a CUV as electric (many Asian marques are going in this direction also).
Meanwhile remember that Chrysler is experimenting with this also. They pulled the 200 and it's platform variants, and sans some of their other holdings like FIAT there's not a lot they offer that is NOT a CUV or SUV.
While this is all going on many Japanese marques for instance are actually building in America but shipping elsewhere where the cars can sell even higher (the Honda Accord is a prime example of this, where it is built here in the US, shipped back to Japan, and marketed as more luxurious than it actually is). Those Asian marques using the US as their primary final construction facilities for most all their markets is now making them the Ford, Chevy, Chrysler, of days gone by.
There will be small squirts of small cars that survive. Remember a few years back when Mitsubishi was having a really rough go? Then they introduced the return of the cheap-o Mirage (which wasn't based on the Lancer platform as it had been in the 90s). Now all of a sudden people were flocking to Mitsubishi to buy $11,000 new cars.
Ford had a rough go with the Fiesta and the Focus (I actually own a Fiesta...). Final production of both are in Mexico to cut costs, but the quality of both have taken dramatic dives over their European counterparts and Ford has done VERY little to nothing to remedy the issue because that would equal $$$$$ that they have to spend.
Chevrolet I would bet are going to be next. My big not-automotive-conspiracy-theory is that both the Volt and Bolt have ultimately been "development models" where eventually the tech GM has been throwing into both are going to move into the CUV segment, and GM will simply market a CUV as electric (many Asian marques are going in this direction also).
Meanwhile remember that Chrysler is experimenting with this also. They pulled the 200 and it's platform variants, and sans some of their other holdings like FIAT there's not a lot they offer that is NOT a CUV or SUV.
While this is all going on many Japanese marques for instance are actually building in America but shipping elsewhere where the cars can sell even higher (the Honda Accord is a prime example of this, where it is built here in the US, shipped back to Japan, and marketed as more luxurious than it actually is). Those Asian marques using the US as their primary final construction facilities for most all their markets is now making them the Ford, Chevy, Chrysler, of days gone by.
There will be small squirts of small cars that survive. Remember a few years back when Mitsubishi was having a really rough go? Then they introduced the return of the cheap-o Mirage (which wasn't based on the Lancer platform as it had been in the 90s). Now all of a sudden people were flocking to Mitsubishi to buy $11,000 new cars.
05-03-2018, 05:03 PM
#5
Team Owner
Member Since: Feb 2009
Location: Nearby Mayberry in NC
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Crowd Plow For Now
Right decision.... like Oldsmobile and Pontiac w GM.
Future at GM will be trucks at Chevy or GMC, virtually the same....
Buick? Prediction. Chevy w GMC and Cadillac
Future at GM will be trucks at Chevy or GMC, virtually the same....
Buick? Prediction. Chevy w GMC and Cadillac
05-03-2018, 08:32 PM
#6
Melting Slicks
Ford is still going to develop sedans in other countries so they can always bring them back if things dramatically change, but at this point it's not worth selling them here and as a company that is legally obligated to make money, this is a smart move. GM will probably be able to weather this a little better due to their move to develop cars in China and the strong Buick brand over there. I never owned a SUV/CUV until my wife needed a new car, but after seeing how much more practical it is over my sedans I can see going that route myself. Something like a BMW X3 M40i is in my future.
