Ford will stop selling cars by 2022...

[unhappymeal]

Originally Posted by Dadhawk

So, what car company doesn't care about profits?

High oil prices will be offset by a further push to electrics or hybrids not small gas engine cars. The false economy of electrics is too good to resist right now. That is when you'll start seeing either mileage based road taxes or an uptick in electric prices (that is how roads are paid for, but most folks seem to ignore that).

Exactly. They are trying to electrify their entire line-up.

[finch1750]

Originally Posted by Spuds

I don't get what all this doom and gloom is about. Hatches were always better than the equivalent sedans anyway. Small sedans are dumb and outdated. Only reason I can see them existing is because they look like larger sedans, which wagons are better than...

If the world went to hatches/shooting brakes/wagons I wouldn't even be mad

[unhappymeal]

Originally Posted by winstonscifi

I agree, Spuds. I could see Ford having a sortof crossover vehicle - something like an Impreza, then a little larger vehicle - something like a Forester, then onto their trucks and SUVs. I agree, the sedan is pretty dead in the US. I don't like Fords - I had a Pinto in the 70s, and that did it for me, but I think this is a pretty good decision for Ford.

They already confirmed North America is getting Fords version of the Crosstrek XV (Focus Active).

[unhappymeal]

Originally Posted by DarkSunrise

I don't think losing any of those sedans really bothers me. Here are the Ford models I have any interest in:

- Focus RS / Mustang GT PP2 (potential replacement for FR-S as DD/track combo)
- Focus ST (would become my DD in addition to FR-S as track car)
- Explorer (wife likes the way it looks; potential replacement for our GTI as family car if we have more kids)

I also like the Fiesta ST in theory, but if I'm buying a hatch it needs to be practical and the Fiesta is just too small for that.

The sedans getting the axe (Fusion, Taurus) I'd never seriously consider and I'd forgot even existed to be honest.

So all in all, my reaction is basically meh

To be clear, the announcement means we are not getting any of the Focii sedans or hatches except for the Focus Active.

[PhyrraM]

Originally Posted by funwheeldrive

Aside from people living in big cities, what incentives do car buyers have to purchase a compact car? Gas is still relatively cheap, and most CUVs are economical anyways.

Also, Americans are getting fatter and fatter at an alarming rate. There are plenty of people who can't squeeze into a fiesta even if they wanted to.

From my experience, it's more to do with security and ego. Many people that I've talked with about the subject hate not being able to see, so they choose something bigger and taller...needed or not. Also many of the same people are deathly afraid to be on the 'losing' end of an accident. There also seems to be a stigma about having to buy a smaller car than the last.

Me? I went from a Land Rover LR3 to the BRZ.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by unhappymeal

I don't think it will be as large an issue as it was in the past. Majority of sales are CUVs and the fuel economy penalty on those (Explorer and Edge) aren't as huge as the body on frame SUVs of yesteryear. Ford is also planning to transition the entire line-up to mild hybrids or PZEV by 2022 and I suspect it's precisely to insulate their high margin SUV and truck market from gas shocks.

It will hurt when people stop buying F150s in droves, but prudent product planners and market researchers should be paneling that group to death and have something in the pipeline as a back-up for them.

At the end of the day, they can see what has happened to manufacturers who do not have a rich SUV/CUV offering (Hyundai, Cadillac and to a lesser degree, Lexus) and are reacting accordingly. The mid-sized sedan market is brutally competitive. Ford does not have the volumes in Lincoln that allows them to trickle down a great platform to the mainstream like Toyota does with Lexus (TNGA is partially shared with the ES/Avalon), Honda does with Acura (TLX, RLX, Accord, RDX and MDX all share architecture) or VW can with MQB/MLB (the next Passat and Arteon are going to be excellent).

This ^
They will also still have to meet all fuel consumption goals that are already scheduled with whatever line up they settle on.
Would be interesting to know how they plan to redistribute their carbon credits across the remaining models with the elimination of some of their lowest penalty vehicles. All those low emissions Fiestas and Focuses would have let them get away with some of the higher emission trucks so they either will have to lower the emissions on the trucks or produce enough other models to continue to offset them.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by PhyrraM

From my experience, it's more to do with security and ego. Many people that I've talked with about the subject hate not being able to see, so they choose something bigger and taller...needed or not. Also many of the same people are deathly afraid to be on the 'losing' end of an accident. There also seems to be a stigma about having to buy a smaller car than the last.

Me? I went from a Land Rover LR3 to the BRZ.

This was exactly the fight I had getting my wife out of large SUVs that she had zero need for. Sort of had to gradually wean her off them by going a bit smaller for a couple of buys.

[ScoobsMcGee]

The dates when production will cease were posted on Twitter (of all places) and later confirmed by a Ford spokesperson.

https://jalopnik.com/ford-focus-prod...e-w-1825583291

-May 2018: Focus
-March 2019: Taurus
-May 2019: Fiesta
TBA: Fusion

[unhappymeal]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

This ^
They will also still have to meet all fuel consumption goals that are already scheduled with whatever line up they settle on.
Would be interesting to know how they plan to redistribute their carbon credits across the remaining models with the elimination of some of their lowest penalty vehicles. All those low emissions Fiestas and Focuses would have let them get away with some of the higher emission trucks so they either will have to lower the emissions on the trucks or produce enough other models to continue to offset them.

I'm guessing they hope that transitioning the high volume SUVs and other models to PZEV should make up for it. I can't wait to see the next generation Mustang 4-cylinder with Ecoboost, Hybrid and PZEV stickers on the back. That will be an image shock for the average buyer .

[unhappymeal]

Originally Posted by ScoobsMcGee

The dates when production will cease were posted on Twitter (of all places) and later confirmed by a Ford spokesperson.

https://jalopnik.com/ford-focus-prod...e-w-1825583291

-May 2018: Focus
-March 2019: Taurus
-May 2019: Fiesta
TBA: Fusion

I think Fusion is supposed to soldier on to 2019 or 2020 with the Focus Active being imported from China for MY2020.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by unhappymeal

I'm guessing they hope that transitioning the high volume SUVs to PZEV should make up for it.

Would help.
God I hate that PZEV term. What the hell were they thinking when they came up with it? It is totally nonsensical.

[unhappymeal]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

Would help.
God I hate that PZEV term. What the hell were they thinking when they came up with it? It is totally nonsensical.

Try the acronym soup in health care. Health Canada has two initiatives termed R2D2 (Regulatory Review of Drugs and Devices) and C3PO. You will literally see bureaucrats roaming Parliament Hill and Downtown Ottawa with Star Wars themed notebooks.

[HunterGreene]

Originally Posted by unhappymeal

To be clear, the announcement means we are not getting any of the Focii sedans or hatches except for the Focus Active.

Did I misread in that they were going to still keep the RS and maybe the ST available for sale?

[unhappymeal]

Originally Posted by HunterGreene

Did I misread in that they were going to still keep the RS and maybe the ST available for sale?

I may have missed it, but the press release made no mention of the ST and RS for the North American market.

Hackett also provided an update to Ford’s strategic framework, declaring that Ford will create long term value by:

• Building a winning portfolio and focusing on products and markets where Ford can win. For example, by 2020, almost 90 percent of the Ford portfolio in North America will be trucks, utilities and commercial vehicles. Given declining consumer demand and product profitability, the company will not invest in next generations of traditional Ford sedans for North America. Over the next few years, the Ford car portfolio in North America will transition to two vehicles – the best-selling Mustang and the all-new Focus Active crossover coming out next year. The company is also exploring new “white space” vehicle silhouettes that combine the best attributes of cars and utilities, such as higher ride height, space and versatility.

• Making a full commitment to new propulsion choices, including adding hybrid-electric powertrains to high-volume, profitable vehicles like the F-150, Mustang, Explorer, Escape and Bronco. The company’s battery electric vehicle rollout starts in 2020 with a performance utility, and it will bring 16 battery-electric vehicles to market by 2022.

https://media.ford.com/content/dam/f...financials.pdf

My understanding is that the ST and RS programs are not going anywhere, but this is the end of the those products in North America. One Ford (global architectures/models) will continue to be their paradigm, but the product mix will be drastically different for our market.