When the next big jump in gas prices comes, (and it will), truck and SUV sales will dry up.

A full line of cars, along with trucks and SUVs, is the best way to survive the shifts in the market.

Also, I think the smaller SUVs and crossovers get a decent MPG these days.

Just googled that to verify (no offense) That's ridiculous. If they insist on moving their production outside of the US, then I would at least rather see it sent to Mexico or some other country close by.

and I believe it to be a huge mistake, but time will tell.

That's an interesting step.

What will cops drive?

Hope they can keep from rolling them over during their high speed chases which they seem to love. Always wondered why they don't just take down the license number and send them a ticket in the mail.

a few still drive the Crown Vic that they discontinued years ago

Ford Explorers have replaced them, with the exception of a single Ford Fusion that mysteriously gets assigned to the newest rookie on the force.

Almost all we see are Dodges.

And the Charger is still available as a police package. It is strange Ford will give up the police car business...could they hang onto the stamping dies for the Taurus body panels, and just make Tauruses once a year for the police market?

Last edited Thu Apr 26, 2018, 12:18 AM - Edit history (1)

or traditional SUVs and trucks. Honda and Toyota have seriously upped their sedan offerings to try and keep the bulk of a shrinking market. I believe Ford and Chrysler don’t think they can compete in that market. I guess we will all see...

dramatically in the last year. Notice what Chrysler/Fiat has done. Jeep,Dodge,and Charger/Cuda and Fiat .Toyota and Honda are ruling the Passenger Car Market. Hundyi/KIA have the bargain Market with their bumper to bumper Warranty for a 100k miles.

Makes money sense to bail on the Passenger Cars at this time. BTW,Ford just announced their new Power Stroke Diesel with 30mph last week.

pipeline they are not yet ready to expose.

My hunch is that Ford has been quietly watching the development of the electric car market. Ford is waiting for the next big improvement in battery technology.

Ford will bring sedan-like vehicles back into the market when such vehicles:

1. Can easily go 300+ miles on a single charge
2. Can be fully charged in 5 minutes
3. Are supported by extensive network of chargers

And how many jobs are gone as a result?

Meantime, the laid off auto workers can huddle together with the coal miners and hold their collective breaths until they get back to work.

The cars that are being dropped aren't selling well. They will be replaced by Crossovers, SUV,, and Trucks that are the big sellers.

Doesn't make sense to develop and manufacture vehicles that consumers aren't interested in

but there is still a market for the big cars.

trucks, crossovers, and SUVs at all and I don't like little cars. If GM is still selling the Impala when it comes time to trade in the Taurus, I'll be buying that instead of a truck or SUV. If GM does the same thing Ford's doing, I'll probably just have to hold on to the Taurus longer than I planned - I certainly won't buy an import; I've never been a Chrysler man (and their current ownership by FIAT makes it even less appealing to me), but if they're still selling the Chrysler 300, I might have to go that route if GM doesn't have any decent sized sedans available (I could probably live with a Malibu instead of an Impala).

stop making it. I may have to hold onto my Taurus, too.

so now the fleet doesn't need fuel efficiency. Ford can chase profits.

People aren't buying the cars that are being dropped, so the fact they are available does nothing for their fuel economy targets if people aren't buying them. Many of the crossovers are based on small car platforms, so they still get pretty decent mileage.

Of course they are chasing profits. With my state so dependent on the auto industry, that is what they should be doing.

All of our money is going to corporate profits and CEO salaries - which are at their highest ever, while median pay is at its' lowest ever. The big companies are going to start feeling it when they start squeezing us for every penny we have left. And their profits will suffer too.

SUV's they make $5,000 to $10,000 profit per vehicle. We know this of course because dealer cost and employee incentives are fairly well known. In the internet age it's hard to hide very much.

And now consumers won't have much choice of a more fuel-efficient and lower cost vehicle because they won't have a selection to choose from because manufacturers don't have to target higher gas mileage as much.

Lots of perfectly good products go by the wayside because the profits aren't there.

They've gamed this out for quite some time to work the trends, financials, and stockholder responsibilities.

I LOVE IT.

Gas mileage..... amazing savings...the ride... perfect

and just catered to the muscle cars, SUVs, etc.

We will see how this works out for them this time

By this announcement they are potentially destroying the resale value of their car lines

they been slipping since they gave up the Panther Platform cars.

Ford cars will not look on this kindly. Obviously, Ford has calculated the risk of losing those customers in their decision

do the car based crossovers get the same mileage? guess the aren't selling enough Taurii and Focuses to the rental agencies

Not everyone wants an SUV or truck, and it is more than just for better mileage. Maneuverability, parking, ride quality, etc.

They are essentially saying they plan to exit the car business. They obviously do not feel that losing current owners of Ford cars will hurt them as much as if they continued to sell those cars, so we will see.

The majority of buyers disagree. Sales of Crossovers, Trucks, and SUV are around 70% of the market right now. They re expecting that to keep going up. Ford is merely responding to the body styles that customers prefer.

indicate that Ford is merely responding to the styles that customers prefer, and I would say that would make perfect sense, except they are taking it beyond that. Instead of decreasing production of vechicles proportionatly that are less in demand, they are going for broke and saying that the way of the future is just SUVs and trucks. We will see if that business model is successful, but for those who may forget, GM and Chrysler almost went belly up because they were not diversified enough.

Eventually this may end up being a moot point with self-driving cars, advanced mass transit systems etc.

You can check month by month - car model by car model. Is it design, quality or public buying preference. Ford has a problem.


[link:http://carsalesbase.com/us-car-sales-data/ford/|]

Market share and sales have been steady the last 5 years



Ford
All Models Market Share

2017 2.464.041 14,29%

2016 2.487.487 14,18%

2015 2.501.855 14,32%

2014 2.376.841 14,38%

2013 2.403.542 15,42%

I'm talking by models.

Meanwhile sales of the Escape, Edge, and Explorer are increasing every year. Overall, Ford market share is steady. The mix of vehicles is changing as consumers increasingly prefer SUV and Crossovers instead of sedans

They too are phasing out the bubble shaped sedans for SUVs, trucks, and crossovers. We're a stupid people who are too big for our britches.

Now I imagine Ford will promote their Mustangs on the track, unless they plan on racing Explorers.

would announce something like that is not a very smart move in my opinion, since they currently are selling Volts and Sonics, etc. For an informed buyer, do they really want to buy a car that a company is thinking about phasing out?

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2017/07/22/report-gm-may-kill-chevy-volt-sonic-and-four-other-cars/501798001/

I had a 2013, and after Chevrolet announced this, I traded my Volt for a Honda Clarity plug-in hybrid. I admit may not be the typical demographic because I suspect a lot of customers are not aware of GM's potential phase out, but that was one of the motivating factors which pushed me to get rid of the Volt. The mechanics of the Volt were sound.

...where they build Chevy Cruzes, their best selling sedan. They're cutting the second shift next month because of lacking sales. The backlog on car lots is huge.

The local workers may get transferred to another plant where they build SUVs, or at least they hope so. Others hope for a new platform here while they continue to build the relatively unprofitable Cruze in Mexico.

I'm just glad I'm retired.

production to the lots where the cars are sold.

I think the car industry is in a transitional period, between the internal combustion engine, plug-in hybrids, all electrics, and other alternate fuels, and it is not clear what will dominate in the next 5 to 10 years, but I think out of all the US car companies GM is in the most flexible position.

GM sells a lot of cars in China, and as far as I am aware the cars they sell in China, are built in China.

GM has also indicated that they are planning to move the Volt technology along with the all electric technology into most of their other car lines.

GM just reported very strong first quarter sales, a lot of that attributable to the sales of cross-overs.

they'd probably have short battery life

Yes, they can put batteries in an SUV or truck, but they're more than a decade behind even Chevy and Nissan in the technology, let alone the only manufacturer with an electric SUV (Tesla). The next ten years will see a dramatic shift to full electric cars, and that begins with sedans as the most cost effective entry point. Once that is more established, and battery technology has completed the latest leap forward that is being driven by Tesla's Gigafactories, the market will branch out into sports cars, SUVs, and trucks. At that point, Ford will a) be somewhat caught up (not likely), b) buy technology and supplies from one of the other manufacturers (or buy one of them, perhaps Tesla, although market share is starting to make that unfeasible), or c) be fu**ed.

Seems kind of shortsighted to me.

It has everything to do with body style and not fuel mileage.

Vehicles like the Escape, Edge and Explorer are all selling well, the Fusion & Taurus are not. The three I mentioned all get the same or better mileage than the Fusion & Taurus even though they are Crossovers or SUV.

In other news, I plan on trading in my Jeep Liberty for a Subaru Impreza Hatch in Nov/Dec. Just as much storage space and twice the gas mileage.

I had a Subaru and traded it in after it developed a head gasket leak with only 65,000 miles on the odometer. This is still a very common problem with Subaru engines and will cost $2k+ to fix at some point. If you are not keeping it too long then go for it, they are very fun to drive.

http://www.thedrive.com/the-hammer/9423/the-quality-question-why-has-subarus-reliability-gone-downhill

Remember the 1960s when one could easily fit four adults (five in a pinch) in a station wagon?

((with two kids lying down in the back section, legal then))

Try that today in a sedan with people who aren't fitness fans.

For several years in the 00s, I believe the Fusion was America's best-selling small car.

He likes family sedans. His next car will probably be a sedan from Toyota or Hyundai.

safe on the road, and gets great gas mileage. I really don't understand why (or even, given current laws, HOW) they could abandon car production.

I got a C-Max a few years ago, and it's my favorite vehicls I've ever owned. I was looking forward to getting another one.

reverse some of these decisions. especially after scaring folks into buying more sedans!

Chevrolet announced they were considering discontinuing the Volt, Sonic, and other car lines about a year ago, it was a motivating factor for me to trade in my Volt for a Honda Clarity Plug-in hybrid.

While I admit I am not the typical consumer, with Ford making such an announcment, they are effectively creating a self-fulfilled prophecy

Perhaps even Korean, they seem to be learning bout quality

That is looking like it will be my next car if I can afford it!

Would love one - have to settle for my Optima and wifes Sonata. Both great cars

one GM tried out in the last 10 years, but that one is gone too. (forgot name)

That division didn't last long early 90s thru 2008 (?) can't remember when they ended it. My daughter drove one for years, a 97 little coupe, nice car except you had to be a contortionist to get in the back seat.

while driving a Corsica and looking for a replacement and finding that Chevy was phasing that, the Lumina, and the Cavalier out and all they pretty much had left for "sedans" were the (overly expensive for the size) Malibu or Impala. It was the beginning of the end of the "sedan" for them and it pretty much shifted me to the small SUV because the trunk sizes on the sedans were minuscule and I buy American (brand) cars. Ended up going with Ford Escape (after decades swearing after growing up with 2 Ford stationwagons and a Mercury sedan, to never get one).

It's a shame that the American companies have all but ceded sedans to the Japanese brand market, although Chrysler & Buick seem to be hanging in there with them.

To the OP question - the Focus is probably one of the biggest sellers - at least from what I've seen around here on the road as a Ford sedan, but it seems the various models of Nissans (notably the Altima) have pretty much taken over that sector where I live.

My wife loves her c Max. This is sad.

This doesn't make sense to me. Even with the * administration gutting requirements for increased minimum/average mpg/car company, how could Ford even come close to meeting even current requirements for their average fleet mileage by abandoning car production? for sure, they would not be able to sell any cars (or, presumably, trucks) in California, which has even stricter requirements regarding automobile mileage, and will not allow car companies to sell cars there unless they meet those requirements (In California, several companies sell electric vehicles there, but nowhere else, just to meet CA fleet-mileage requirements ).

Could Ford really be THIS stupid?
I'd like to see confirmation of this news elsewhere.

GM is cutting a bunch of cars as well.

Car sales fell 38%, and GM is cutting six models in 2020.



http://wolfstreet.com/2017/07/20/gm-might-cancel-six-car-models-after-2020/

Here are Ford's sales (2017) numbers by model:

Police Interceptor 7,994
C-max 18,390
Taurus 33,242
Fiesta 46,249
Expedition 51,883
E-series 53,304
Mustang 81,866
Edge 142,603
Focus 158,385
Fusion 209,623
Explorer 271,131
Escape 308,296
F-Series 896,764

That's vehicle period. Not just truck. Of course the math is a little fuzzy because it includes all of their trucks in that series but either way truck sales are Ford's bread and butter. Their cars just don't have the demand their trucks do. Not saying I agree with this decision from the personal standpoint but from an business standpoint I get it.

Ford is reacting to the slowing sales to millennials. If that trend continues, the automotive industry must shift their focus towards customer who are buying and what they are buying

no difference to them between a cheaper used car and a new car

It used to be a big deal when the Big Three would unveil their line of models for the new year. The car designers didn't have to worry all that much about fuel economy or crash safety - the main constraint on making the car as pretty as possible was price. Well, when the car designer is limited to using a generic aerodynamic bubble design for fuel economy and is limited in other areas due to crash safety - it's a lot harder to release a car that makes a buyer go "Wow! I gotta get that car!" You can see a 15 year old car pull into a parking lot today and not really think anything of it - that most certainly would not have been true for a 1955 car pulling into a parking lot in 1970 - it would have instantly looked like a very old car.

around in a few years.

Not like the F150, of course.

I'm left wondering if the decline in demand for smaller vehicles is simply due to the fact so many of us can't fit in them anymore?

how many people will lose job because of this?