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Ford giving up on Fiesta, Focus and Fusion


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The big question is what will be produced at Hermosillo? I guess baby bronco will have to be made somewhere. What's slated for Cuautitlan after Fiesta dies?

 

Ford needs to figure out how to make more Escapes for the NA market, given how bullish they are on it and the next gen Explorer.

 

I could see one of the Mexican plants being an Escape overflow and baby Bronco plant..they will be on similar platforms and most likely share some of the same engines. I can see the 1L ecoboost and 1.5L in the Baby Bronco and the 1.5L and 2L in the Escape and maybe a shared hybrid setup.

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I wonder if this was an exercise designed to break down the "we've-always-done-it-that-way" mentality by putting everything on the table...?

 

I have a hard time believing that the dealers would be happy if Ford completely abandoned the passenger-car market.

Edited by grbeck
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I wonder if this was an exercise designed to break down the "we've-always-done-it-that-way" mentality by putting everything on the table...?

 

I have a hard time believing that the dealers would be happy if Ford completely abandoned the passenger-car market.

 

They aren't abandoning the car market. Things are changing though, that is for sure. We know we won't have a Focus for roughly a year. The Taurus is dead a man walking, that most likely will not be replaced. The Fusion is the wild card here and I don't the have decided exactly what to do yet.

 

If the Fusions 2017 MCE, was more extensive I don't things would be so bleak. However, they did almost nothing to the exterior and changed a handful of things on the interior. Nothing to powertrain (with the exception of the niche Sport model). There is no argument that the market is shrinking. To succeed in the market, you will have to be either be the best product, a value product (ie cheap...basically any Nissan) or just slap tons of cash on the hood and trying to make it up with volume (this isn't the best plan with shrinking market share but low enough and you can fall into the value product). The Fusion isn't the best product, nor is it the cheapest MSRP. It does have decent incentives but not as low as GM/Nissan.

 

In my opinion, I think they will keep the Fusion but they are going to have to rethink it for the next generation. The conundrum is how do you keep the costs low but still produce a class leading product for a segment that isn't growing?

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I’m hearing conflicting reports on whether Edge is going to CD6 or not.

 

 

FWIW, the "Holy Grail" article from AN says that Edge will be on C2:

 

 

The new architecture underpinning the Focus is flexible enough to encompass subcompacts such as the Fiesta as well as midsize models and crossovers such as the Edge and Escape, Bakaj told Automotive News at the global launch of the Focus here. "It's very scalable," said Bakaj (pronounced ba-KAI').

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I usually don't reply to these assembly plant speculation threads, but...

C2 plants:

Louisville

Cuautitlan

Oakville

CD6 plants:

Chicago

Flat Rock

"E1" plant:

Hermosillo

 

Except we know Ford is adding a 2nd building at Flat Rock to build the "Uber mobile" which is presumably based on E1 architecture.

 

But otherwise, I think you have nailed it for North America.

 

C2 plants:

Louisville (Escape)

Cuautitlan (Baby Bronco + MKC + Escape overflow)

Oakville (Edge + Nautilus + Fusion?)

 

CD6 plants:

Chicago (Explorer + Aviator)

Flat Rock 1 (Continental + Mustang + MKZ?)

 

"E1" plant:

Hermosillo (MACH1 + ???)

Flat Rock 2 (unnamed autonomous vehicle + ???)

 

Unaccounted for... Transit Connect if Ford wants to grow that business (it may not) and next gen EcoSport.

 

If the San Luis Potosi plant had gone forward, it would have been home for Focus and Transit Connect I think.

EcoSport may still show up somewhere in if Ford finds something else to build in India.

Edited by bzcat
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Its possible the Ford models stay C2 (Edge) while Lincoln gets CD6 (Nautilus e.g.). But that would mean splitting production and much less sharing between the 2.

A. They already build 2 different platforms at that plant.

 

B. What if theres more shared between CD6 and C2 than we all think?

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Ford just confirmed that all cars will be discontinued in North America except Mustang and Focus Active. It's in the Q1 earnings press release. The earnings call is in 40 minutes at 5:30 EST. Expect lots of interesting questions form analysts.

 

Mods can change the title of this thread. Ford is not "thinking" anymore. They are giving up on cars.

 

https://media.ford.com/content/dam/fordmedia/North%20America/US/2018/04/25/1q18-financials.pdf

 

 

 

DEARBORN, Mich., April 25, 2018

Ford Motor Company today released its first quarter 2018 financial results. The company delivered increased revenue, up 7 percent year over year, and net income of $1.7 billion, up 9 percent year over year, more than explained by a lower tax rate. Company adjusted EBIT of $2.2 billion was down from a year ago, due to commodity cost increases and adverse exchange.

In addition, the company announced that its fitness initiatives are driving an improved outlook. Ford is now targeting an 8 percent adj. EBIT margin in 2020, two years earlier than previously anticipated. Ford is also targeting its return on invested capital (ROIC) to substantially increase by 2020.

“We are committed to taking the appropriate actions to drive profitable growth and maximize the returns of our business over the long term,” said Jim Hackett, president and CEO. “Where we can raise the returns of underperforming parts of our business by making them more fit, we will. If appropriate returns are not on the horizon, we will shift that capital to where we can play and win.”

The accelerated 2020 targets are enabled by $11.5 billion of cost and efficiency opportunities that span the entire company and include engineering, marketing and sales, manufacturing, material cost and IT. In addition, Ford expects to improve its capital efficiency. The company had previously expected to spend about $34 billion in capital from 2019 to 2022 and has now cut that by $5 billion, to $29 billion over the same period.

“This quarter is in line with expectations and consistent with our outlook for the full year, but we know we can, and must, do better,” said Bob Shanks, executive vice president and CFO. “The entire team is focused on improving the operational fitness of our business, as well as meeting and exceeding our accelerated 2020 target of 8 percent margin and ROIC in the high teens.”

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.
•Build a viable and profitable autonomous technology business offering the most trusted and human-centered ride-hailing and goods delivery experience.
•Creating and scaling a mobility platform and experience that customers and partners will embrace. Ford is targeting to become more than just a provider of mobile solutions. As outlined at CES in January, its ambition is to create the Transportation Mobility Cloud of choice for cities and being an orchestrator of all digital connections from vehicle to street to business to home.

Ford also announced that Ford Credit plans to maintain its managed receivables for the foreseeable future at the same level as it ended the quarter, in order to maintain a strong overall risk profile for Ford.

In addition, the company plans to hold an investor meeting on Sept. 26 of this year to provide investors an update on Ford Motor Company’s progress improving the operational fitness of the business, while building toward its vision of the future.
Edited by bzcat
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Wow, only the Mustang and a Focus suv style? Not even the focus ST or RS? What is the ford gateway vehicle the baby SUV? How about bringing over the Fiesta Van from Europe - something about those metal panels replacing the rear windows does make it look cool.

Edited by Fordowner
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"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."

 

They are bringing the Ford 500 and Freestyle back?

 

 

Not a bit short sighted, its VERY short sighted and I do not like it at all.

 

I agree, but I think these "white space" vehicles they're talking about will more or less be a next-gen lifted Fusion.

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Boy am I glad we bought our Fiesta STs when we did.

 

I too feel this is incredibly short-sighted...and only hope they've designed the newest Fiesta/Focus/Fusion to be easily Federalized. Otherwise they'll be in a world of hurt when gas prices inevitably rise.

 

I don't think rising gas prices will affect crossovers/SUVs as much as they did before, as they get much better fuel economy now than they did. But, I completely agree that it's a short sighted move.

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