Ford giving up on Fiesta, Focus and Fusion

[MKX1960]

Suddenly the MKZ and Continentals value drop overnight...and Audi Jaguar Volvo BMW Lexus MB will be gaining quite a bit more.

 

Now, For Ford maybe 500K of "Sedans" won't really hurt them specially if they aren't making a profit on them (hard to believe when I see how overpriced a loaded Conti and Mkz is for the price). I can't see Honda going down this route since majority of their business IS on cars. I think they have over 700K in sedans. For them to pull the plug would be galactical... I can see some defecting towards them though..

Here's a quote from a Honda article. " Meanwhile, its traditional best seller, the Accord midsized sedan may lose that position to the CR-V compact crossover as the former is awaiting the new generation".

[fuzzymoomoo]

But thats what Ford is doing now. Whats the difference?

Ford is capable of delivering a competitive small AND midsize car, weve seen before (Focus DCT issues notwithstanding). The 200 and Dart were never competitive. The fact that FCA got out ahead of the meltdown of the sedan market is just dumb luck on their part.

[Assimilator]

Ford is capable of delivering a competitive small AND midsize car, weve seen before (Focus DCT issues notwithstanding). The 200 and Dart were never competitive. The fact that FCA got out ahead of the meltdown of the sedan market is just dumb luck on their part.

 

 

The meltdown was happening both in profits and sales when they made that decision...and like Ford they needed the floorspace for more important products.

 

Make no mistake, FCA has handled RAM and Jeep brilliantly. I keep saying it but Jeep...of all brands...outsells all Ford small cars now by a big margin. Not only that, Jeep outsells Ford SUVs by almost a 1/3. And more alarmingly, FCA may be more profitable than Ford this year.

 

It just further highlights how serious Ford's financial situation really is and why bold decision making is required.

 

Focus has never been a consistent product in the US because they've struggled to make it profitable, reliable...or popular. I'm glad it's finally gone. Fusion is the only one I'm going to miss, even if I would never buy one.

Edited April 26, 2018 by Assimilator

[fuzzymoomoo]

The meltdown was happening both in profits and sales when they made that decision...and like Ford they needed the floorspace for more important products.

And like Ford they could have also found a way around it. The fact that they werent competitive without loads of cash on the hood made the decision a lot easier.

 

Sorry, I have a very hard time giving the benefit of the doubt to a company thats gone bankrupt twice, merged with 3 different companies, been owned by a management group, has a history of making more bad to questionable decisions than good decisions and has a CEO that is both certifiably insane and openly shopping for anyone to merge with them yet again.

Edited April 26, 2018 by fuzzymoomoo

[akirby]

Just like Focus active I expect we’ll see a Fusion Active based on the Edge that’s somewhere in between. It also won’t be directly competing with Camcord and Sonoptima.

 

I still think dropping Focus is more about plant capacity and I would not be surprised to see Focus cars reappear if that market stays relatively strong after they launch the new platforms and vehicles.

[fuzzymoomoo]

Focus has never been a consistent product in the US because they've struggled to make it profitable, reliable...or popular.

Im not going to try to speak for anyone else, but my 2008 Focus, for all the suspension parts (and rear subframe) Ive had to replace thanks to our shit-tastic roads, it has never once left me stranded.

 

Forgot to mention, Im at 195k miles

Edited April 26, 2018 by fuzzymoomoo

[Assimilator]

My sister had a 2007 which she just gave away, she HATED it at first because it had a ton of problems that were all covered under that amazing 100,000 mile warranty...but it still ran until she got rid of it at 160,000 miles. Amusingly, most of the problems stopped after the warranty ran out but I know Ford lost a truck-load of money fixing that car. But I bet you a Honda Civic or Corolla would have given her less grief. My point however is that Ford has been very inconsistent with this customer, often scaling back on Focus when the market shifted away from it, reinvesting into Focus once it swung back, and then loosing tons of money over estimating how much people would be willing to pay for a premium Focus while not delivering a vehicle that met the needs and expectations of the compact customer (expensive, cramped, harsh, DSG, etc).

Edited April 26, 2018 by Assimilator

[AGR]

Just like Focus active I expect well see a Fusion Active based on the Edge thats somewhere in between. It also wont be directly competing with Camcord and Sonoptima.

 

I still think dropping Focus is more about plant capacity and I would not be surprised to see Focus cars reappear if that market stays relatively strong after they launch the new platforms and vehicles.

IF Ford makes a next gen Mondeo wagon or hatchback, I would expect a Fusion Active to be a jacked up one of those.

[akirby]

IF Ford makes a next gen Mondeo wagon or hatchback, I would expect a Fusion Active to be a jacked up one of those.

Exactly. Although Mondeo is also dropping in Europe so who knows.

[jpd80]

Speculation is over, it's now official that Ford is reducing US cars to Mustang and Focus Active

 

http://www.blueovalforums.com/forums/index.php?app=forums&module=post&section=post&do=new_post&f=72

 

Mods please delete thread, seems i can't read a thread in progress....

Edited April 26, 2018 by jpd80

[fuzzymoomoo]

Speculation is over, it's now official that Ford is reducing US cars to Mustang and Focus Active

 

http://www.blueovalforums.com/forums/index.php?app=forums&module=post&section=post&do=new_post&f=72

Thanks for reading the thread

[xander7]

I have an idea or theory concerning the possibility of a next gen midsize car. What if Hackett decided to remake the next Fusion into rwd CD6 based vehicle and instead of a traditional sedan turned it into a hatchback vehicle like the new VW Arteon? I believe it would appeal to both consumers and the police force alike. It would be like knocking two birds with one stone....

[jpd80]

Next gen Mondeo is basically an evolution of the current car to include newer power trains, and electrical systems.

Focus Fiesta and Mondeo are all continuing in China Europe and ROW, we're going back to pre -"One Ford".

[fuzzymoomoo]

I have an idea or theory concerning the possibility of a next gen midsize car. What if Hackett decided to remake the next Fusion into rwd CD6 based vehicle and instead of a traditional sedan turned it into a hatchback vehicle like the new VW Arteon? I believe it would appeal to both consumers and the police force alike. It would be like knocking two birds with one stone....

I dont think theyre too concerned about the police market. They can (and are) covering it nicely with the Explorer and I expect the new one to build on that.

[J-150]

I'm not a crossover buyer, so Ford is basically telling me they no longer want my business. Dumb and shortsighted.

Did you steal this quote from a minivan owner?

[Harley Lover]

With this action Ford have officially admitted that they have been asleep at the wheel for the past few years. They don't have a plan in place and underway - they have to wait until September to cobble together what that plan might be. It is inadequate to blather about cost cuts - any furniture salesman can cut costs. Unless you're ready to pair the news of cuts with a forward thinking product plan, it's empty calories. Read what they are saying - "we're going to explore white space vehicles". Explore? Shouldn't that have already been done? Shouldn't you already be implementing the product plan? It's disgusting and a joke. The cuts are fine - the apparent lack of a cohesive plan ("trust us, we'll be back in September with a great product story") is pathetic. Sorry, I'm on the threshold of being done with this company.

Edited April 26, 2018 by Harley Lover

[AlRozzi]

I saw this coming given the news chatter this winter which is why

I bought my new Focus hatchback - don't want a sedan anymore - this month. I will likely get an ST soon.

 

Ford should have dropped Taurus/Flex/MKT at least two years ago.

 

Fiesta sedan should not have been sold here to begin with.

 

Just wish there could continue to be a Focus and Fusion hatchback.

[Anthony]

Oof.

[silvrsvt]

With this action Ford have officially admitted that they have been asleep at the wheel for the past few years. They don't have a plan in place and underway - they have to wait until September to cobble together what that plan might be.

 

 

The waiting till September is more or less trying to keep an competitive edge-why tell your competition what your doing 24-36 months down the road if you don't have to?

 

What is really telling is how badly things went after Mulally-in all seriousness he left 4 years ago, so more or less any product that is on sale now should have been done under his management and the replacements being worked on-but it looks like everything was dropped or screwed up outside of the F-series-which begs the question, why was pretty much everything else ignored and wasn't it Mulally who pushed everyone to make all products break even or make money? What happened there?

[AlRozzi]

I recall Alan pondered Lincolns demise.

Maybe FMC would be better off with a Jeep type brand?

[Anthony]

This is a blow, but obviously not a surprising one. Yes, FCA's move was somewhat dumb luck, but it was also had some gambles involved that were pretty brave.. Let's remember the Chrysler 200 was outselling the previous 200/Avenger combo. The Dart, while not setting the sales world on fire was selling ok for a Dodge.

 

The fact they didn't just go with the flow and continue to sell those models is what I'll give them credit for. Any other manufacturer would have done a refresh and planned for the next go 'round because "ya gotta sells cars". FCA saw the models were not making money and also saw they were maxed out capacity wise on CUVs that were making money. In hindsight it seems like a "duh" move, but nobody else would have abandoned the two largest car segments in favor of trucks. Yes, it was a gamble and I'm pretty sure the plan was eventually they would bring them back (which obviously is not the plan anymore).

 

I'm a little surprised by the fact that Ford is saying those models were not making money. I think we were mostly under the impression that there were some margins on their cars and they were not "an F-150 company" as other have called it. It seems that it makes no difference what is "competitive" or not in the end. Cars are not making Ford (and I'm willing to bet many others) money.

Edited April 26, 2018 by Anthony

[akirby]

With this action Ford have officially admitted that they have been asleep at the wheel for the past few years. They don't have a plan in place and underway - they have to wait until September to cobble together what that plan might be. It is inadequate to blather about cost cuts - any furniture salesman can cut costs. Unless you're ready to pair the news of cuts with a forward thinking product plan, it's empty calories. Read what they are saying - "we're going to explore white space vehicles". Explore? Shouldn't that have already been done? Shouldn't you already be implementing the product plan? It's disgusting and a joke. The cuts are fine - the apparent lack of a cohesive plan ("trust us, we'll be back in September with a great product story") is pathetic. Sorry, I'm on the threshold of being done with this company.

I don’t think that’s true at all - I think it’s the opposite. I think they’ve had too many plans and they keep changing. CD6 has been on again off again for the last 2-3 years. New factory was on then off.

 

You don’t announce future product details in more details than what they’ve already announced. The cost cutting info was for Wall St.

 

They’ve obviously changed plans a few times over the last year. That may be good or bad - won’t know for a few more years.

 

I think we all agree that electrified utilities, trucks and mustangs are good. They need an EV to stay competitive for the future. Autonomous vehicles are coming whether we like it or not (in some capacity).

 

Taurus and Fiesta won’t be missed much.

 

The only questionable part is whether they really should be killing Focus hatch/sedan and Fusion to do all this. I understand that it’s probably a simple resource issue (both in people, time and money). And as long as they have those vehicles in ROW they can reverse that. I keep thinking this may just be temporary until they get the new platforms and new vehicles out the door and then they can bring them back. The problem is you will have lost all the momentum that Fusion had (and it would have had even more with a decent update). Of course maybe that will be good for Focus at this point and people will forget about the tranny.

[rmc523]

Just saw in Detroit News This has been verified by Ford. So all the fake news sights were partially correct.

 

Two cars

Mustang

Focus Active-which to me is the right Focis for sure

 

Could care less about Taurus or Fiesta but Fusion will be missed only because at one time a few years ago it was the best mid size sedan even beating Camry and Accord. Thats tough to see them just give up on it. Probably right decision at this point though.

 

What I would love to check out is how many people thought FCA is fucking crazy to exit the car business and Ford would never do that. Boy give FCA tons of credit for getting out in front of this.

 

Yeah, I can't give FCA too much credit. They dropped noncompetitive models and the plan was to desperately beg someone else to start producing those same noncompetitive models for them again. Obviously nobody has taken them up on that offer.

 

 

 

I also look at this as to playing to Ford's strengths- they are more or less the best truck company on the planet and they always done competitive to class leading SUV/CUVs-at least for the past 25 years or so.

 

The sad thing is, they CAN build class-leading sedans too when they try, but now they aren't even trying.

[fordmantpw]

As a Ford fan, this really sucks. Fiesta and Taurus won't be missed, but I hate to see the Fusion and Focus go. I just think they are overall great cars, and great entries into the Ford brand for a lot of folks who don't want C/SUVs.

 

However, as a Ford stockholder, I feel this is likely a good move. You are wasting resources on vehicles that don't make money. Why shoot for a 0-0.5% ROI when you can have 2-3%? (I'm just throwing numbers out to make a point...not 'real' numbers). Times are changing, and if you don't change with them, you will be left behind.

[Harley Lover]

 

 

The waiting till September is more or less trying to keep an competitive edge-why tell your competition what your doing 24-36 months down the road if you don't have to?

 

 

Really? Waiting from April until September to explain the plan is going to give Ford an "edge" on its competition? Come on.