Ford announces it will no longer design and manufacture cars (except the Mustang) i

[james t kirk]

Wow. Just wow.

Ford announced today that it is going to eliminate all car manufacturing and sales in North America other than the Mustang and the new Chinese built Focus.

Ford will now concentrate all its efforts on selling SUVs and pickup trucks. (Low hanging fruit that does not require as much innovation.)

I can't help but wonder how Ford might make out if gasoline becomes very expensive again. They are putting all their eggs in one basket it would seem.

I'm glad to see the Mustang survive, but hard to imagine Ford not offering cars.

I know there will be no shortage of cars and other manufacturers build more successful cars, but I'm still a bit surprised.

 

[Occasionally]

Makes sense.

US = Trucks and SUVs
Euro/Jap = Sedans and SUVs

American auto companies have always tried to be the best place for everything. However, their focus on vehicles and marketing is the tough guy image. So anyone wanting to buy a sedan whether it's a entry level car like a Civic or Corrola, or higher end sedans like BMWs and Audis will focus on non-US brands.

 

[Johnny Utah]

Ford cars like th focus, Taurus, etc., are pretty shit and aren’t the backbone of their divisions other than a few sports cars. About time really.

 

[onthebottom]

Top 3selling vehicles are trucks, by a pretty large margin.

 

[Aardvark154]

Ford is indeed betting the house that gasoline prices are going to remain relatively low, and that they will have sufficient time to revamp before prices dramatically rise.

 

[rhuarc29]

I can't help but wonder how Ford might make out if gasoline becomes very expensive again.

They're projecting record gas prices this summer, so I guess we'll find out then. A booming economy will soften the blow though. I'm more interested to see what happens to them in the next recession, which is when many tend to switch to cheaper and more fuel-efficient cars.

 

[Indiana]

For now.
Let’s check-in in 5 years.

 

[james t kirk]

I'm wondering about Lincoln as well.

They just brought out the new Continental and it was getting good reviews.

 

[skinnyguy]

Ford is indeed betting the house that gasoline prices are going to remain relatively low, and that they will have sufficient time to revamp before prices dramatically rise.

Most small SUVs now don't use much more fuel than a corresponding size sedan. And Ford is going to have a hybrid version of just about everything available in the next few years, including Mustang and F-150.

 

[TeeJay]

They still own the Mazda, Lincoln, and Mercury nameplates if they really want to sell more cars

But seriously a "cross over" is just a prettier station wagon anyways so it's not like cars will "vamish"
Just the old boat sized sedans for old people (assuming no Lincoln models survive)

 

[essguy_]

They still own the Mazda, Lincoln, and Mercury nameplates if they really want to sell more cars

But seriously a "cross over" is just a prettier station wagon anyways so it's not like cars will "vamish"
Just the old boat sized sedans for old people (assuming no Lincoln models survive)

Ford sold their controlling interest in Mazda in 2008 - since then have only had a minority position. The sale in 2008 was unexpected. If you look at how Mazda has moved on since 2008 - with a fairly tight, but strong offering - the breakup was good for Mazda.

And agree - the term "SUV" has morphed to include a lot of different types of vehicles with so called "CUV's" being a popular marketing segment. Eg: all unibody construction with some "CUV's" having FWD as the standard offering. The "U" in SUV and CUV means it can carry a couple more bags of groceries and go down a sloped driveway without banging the front bumper at the bottom. It no longer means any off-road or towing capabilities while carrying passengers and cargo.

 

[danmand]

That has to impact sales of Ford's cars.

 

[GameBoy27]

That has to impact sales of Ford's cars.

Sales is one thing, profit is another. If they're not making money on their cars, why continue manufacturing them. Concentrate on your most profitable vehicles.

 

[danmand]

Sales is one thing, profit is another. If they're not making money on their cars, why continue manufacturing them. Concentrate on your most profitable vehicles.

That is their reason. But who wants to buy the last Ford car?

 

[SirWanker]

Read about this earlier and it makes sense, at least with these numbers:

Avg January through March 2018 - US sales
F-Series - 71,397
Explorer - 18,043
Escape - 22,450

Taurus - 3,172
Focus - 11,682
Fiesta - 4,099

Source

Keep in mind Ford plans to expand its lineup of battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid EVs, launching six by 2022.

 

[oldjones]

Read about this earlier and it makes sense, at least with these numbers:

Avg January through March 2018 - US sales
F-Series - 71,397
Explorer - 18,043
Escape - 22,450

Taurus - 3,172
Focus - 11,682
Fiesta - 4,099

Source

Keep in mind Ford plans to expand its lineup of battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid EVs, launching six by 2022.

Thanks for those numbers. How interesting to see that the Mustang they're keeping sells in the same range as the Explorer they're dumping. And the little Transit van they brought over from Europe just a couple of years ago is already halfway to matching the F-series pick-ups, but they're giving up on it. Makes me think of Goldman's wise words about Hollywood: "Nobody knows anything".

 

[essguy_]

Thanks for those numbers. How interesting to see that the Mustang they're keeping sells in the same range as the Explorer they're dumping. And the little Transit van they brought over from Europe just a couple of years ago is already halfway to matching the F-series pick-ups, but they're giving up on it. Makes me think of Goldman's wise words about Hollywood: "Nobody knows anything".

I don't think they're giving up on the transit which has been doing ok as you noticed from the numbers. You might even see it morph into more of a consumer targeted product (passenger focus instead of commercial service vehicle). Also - are you sure they're dumping the Explorer name? I would think that they'd want to keep the name for one of the new SUV's they're going to be launching.

 

[Occasionally]

It's not totally about sales or profits, but image.

I took a skim of some of those car sales links and Mustang doesn't sell that great at all. Some of the other sedans like Fusion sell twice as much. Ford is getting rid of all their economy cars and boring family sedans..... which most people would prefer getting a higher end brand.

But they keep Mustang because it's got a coolness image. This goes hand and hand with the image they have for tough and rugged trucks. Their pimped out GT only sells about 10 cars a month and it's not going anywhere. Not even sure how they are made... probably hand made in a shop.

 

[essguy_]

It's not totally about sales or profits, but image.

I took a skim of some of those car sales links and Mustang doesn't sell that great at all. Some of the other sedans like Fusion sell twice as much. Ford is getting rid of all their economy cars and boring family sedans..... which most people would prefer getting a higher end brand.

But they keep Mustang because it's got a coolness image. This goes hand and hand with the image they have for tough and rugged trucks. Their pimped out GT only sells about 10 cars a month and it's not going anywhere. Not even sure how they are made... probably hand made in a shop.

The GT's are actually largely made and assembled in Markham at Multimatic.

 

[TeeJay]

Ford sold their controlling interest in Mazda in 2008

I totally missed that (although link I found said partnership ceased in 2015 after shares had been decreasing for years)
https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Deals/Ford-sells-remaining-stake-in-Mazda

The link also makes me laugh since it also goes on to say 2016 was a year of RECORD PROFITS for Mazda
lol
oops