Biker16 Posted June 9 Share Posted June 9 Ford’s Hot Hatch Is Now Officially History Quote With the Fiesta ST already gone and the Focus ST now spoken for, the Blue Oval leaves the feisty performance-hatch segment it helped create. Focus ST orders are over The end is here for Ford’s last hot hatch as the company confirmed to Motor1 that every factory build slot for the Focus ST is spoken for. “All Focus ST factory orders until the end of production have now been reserved,” European communications manager Finn Thomasen said. Dealers across the Continent may still have a few unclaimed cars hiding in back lots, but once those are gone—and when Focus production stops in November—the book will officially close on Ford’s 45-year hot-hatch chapter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GearheadGrrrl Posted June 9 Share Posted June 9 Ford's retreat continues- Wonder how long what's left of Ford will last? 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew L Posted June 9 Share Posted June 9 Sad. End of an era. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted June 9 Share Posted June 9 1 hour ago, GearheadGrrrl said: Ford's retreat continues- Wonder how long what's left of Ford will last? Considering “what’s left” are the ones that are profitable - a long time. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AM222 Posted June 10 Share Posted June 10 23 hours ago, GearheadGrrrl said: Ford's retreat continues- Wonder how long what's left of Ford will last? They will probably stick around but as a commercial vehicle maker. When you're a Focus or Escape/Kuga owner, you don't care much about commercial vehicles. I would choose a car or crossover from a rival brand who hasn't quit making cars or 2-row crossovers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AM222 Posted June 10 Share Posted June 10 (edited) 22 hours ago, akirby said: Considering “what’s left” are the ones that are profitable - a long time. Not everyone wants a pickup truck or Transit though. The only reason a Focus or Escape is not very profitable for Ford is: A. They need major updates (rivals are beating them) B. Ford isn't selling them in many markets. Toyota for example developed a new Rav4 and will sell it in 180 markets. Ford tends to develop models for certain regions only and sell unrelated vehicle to fill in the blanks like in the old days. Example: Escape and the unrelated Territory. The One Ford philosophy would have saved Ford a ton of money. The only Ford left that follows the One Ford philosophy is the Ranger. Many of Ford's rivals have followed and are still following this "One" idea. You also have to think about how Ford developed three Ford-branded C2 models, the Escape, Bronco Sport, and Maverick that their combined sales is still less than the Rav4's sales in the USA. You also have to consider the fact that the Rav4 is sold in several dozen more markets than Ford's compact SUVs. Edited June 10 by AM222 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sherminator98 Posted June 10 Share Posted June 10 It’s just not Ford-Honda is stopping selling the Civic type R in the EU. https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a64984345/honda-civic-type-r-sales-end-europe/ Looks like emissions standards are the issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biker16 Posted June 10 Author Share Posted June 10 22 hours ago, akirby said: Considering “what’s left” are the ones that are profitable - a long time. We will never know how profitable or unprofitable those vehicles were. There a plenty of Hot hatches on sale in the EU the Segment is still alive, only Ford is dead. https://www.whatcar.com/best/hot-hatches/n17005 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AM222 Posted June 10 Share Posted June 10 (edited) 21 minutes ago, Sherminator98 said: It’s just not Ford-Honda is stopping selling the Civic type R in the EU. https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a64984345/honda-civic-type-r-sales-end-europe/ Looks like emissions standards are the issue. I think Honda is only ending Type-R sales in Europe, Ford on the other hand will kill off the entire Focus range by November, first to go is the ST. Edited June 10 by AM222 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeluxeStang Posted June 10 Share Posted June 10 Taking everything into consideration, it seems like Ford killed their hatches and sedans as they were because they weren't fiscally sustainable, and they didn't align with Ford's desire to lean into passion products. That being said, there's a significant amount of evidence to suggest hatchbacks and sedans will return to the Ford lineup at some point in the future. Everything from comments made by leadership about how there's space in Ford's lineup for low slung, non suv EV models, and how that's something they'll consider once the capri, explorer, and puma EVs were launched. Farley said in an interview how their skunkwork EV platform could allow them to reenter segments they left previously. Do I see a cheap rental spec hatchback returning? No. Do I see a fun, interesting hatchback that ties into Ford's fast Ford heritage returning if Ford can make a profit on it? That's a real possibility. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpd80 Posted June 10 Share Posted June 10 More likely, Ford took all their ICE project funding and put it into electric vehicles because that’s the way European Legislation is forcing manufacturers go. What we are seeing today is basically the fruit of decisions made four or five years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AM222 Posted June 10 Share Posted June 10 1 hour ago, DeluxeStang said: Taking everything into consideration, it seems like Ford killed their hatches and sedans as they were because they weren't fiscally sustainable, and they didn't align with Ford's desire to lean into passion products. That being said, there's a significant amount of evidence to suggest hatchbacks and sedans will return to the Ford lineup at some point in the future. Everything from comments made by leadership about how there's space in Ford's lineup for low slung, non suv EV models, and how that's something they'll consider once the capri, explorer, and puma EVs were launched. Farley said in an interview how their skunkwork EV platform could allow them to reenter segments they left previously. Do I see a cheap rental spec hatchback returning? No. Do I see a fun, interesting hatchback that ties into Ford's fast Ford heritage returning if Ford can make a profit on it? That's a real possibility. I remember when the Fiesta was discontinued Europe, sales of small hatchbacks there were actually up. People just went for hatchbacks from another brands. I think the "Cheap rental spec" image of a small non-hot hatch hatchback is an American thing because this is smaller and more affordable than what many consider as standard. In Europe and Asia, subcompact cars and their crossover derivatives are popular. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AM222 Posted June 10 Share Posted June 10 4 minutes ago, jpd80 said: More likely, Ford took all their ICE project funding and put it into electric vehicles because that’s the way European Legislation is forcing manufacturers go. What we are seeing today is basically the fruit of decisions made four or five years ago. True and it sucks. North America is probably the least affected by the termination of the more affordable smaller ICE models. Who are the ones that are hugely affected? The rest-of-the-world markets of Ford, not just Europe. Again, rivals continue to build and improve on vehicles in segments Ford abandoned or plan to abandon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted June 10 Share Posted June 10 6 hours ago, Biker16 said: We will never know how profitable or unprofitable those vehicles were. There a plenty of Hot hatches on sale in the EU the Segment is still alive, only Ford is dead. https://www.whatcar.com/best/hot-hatches/n17005 Yes we do. It’s obvious from Ford’s European financial results the last 20 years and from Ford insider confirmation and Ford’s business decisions. To compete Ford needed a single long running cheap platform, not 2 or 3 expensive ones. They tried going the premium route with Titaniums and Vignales but with mass market cars price is king. I had a cd4 Fusion titanium and it was great but since I bought it I almost never saw another titanium - just tons and tons of cheap SE models. C2 could fill that bill going forward but there are better opportunities for Ford to pursue with CE1 and other existing products. CE1 has the opportunity to fill that role for Ford in the EV space where there isn’t a lot of competition and the market will increase over time as opposed to continuing to decrease. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ausrutherford Posted June 11 Share Posted June 11 It was just renamed - Puma ST 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmc523 Posted June 11 Share Posted June 11 13 hours ago, akirby said: Yes we do. It’s obvious from Ford’s European financial results the last 20 years and from Ford insider confirmation and Ford’s business decisions. To compete Ford needed a single long running cheap platform, not 2 or 3 expensive ones. They tried going the premium route with Titaniums and Vignales but with mass market cars price is king. I had a cd4 Fusion titanium and it was great but since I bought it I almost never saw another titanium - just tons and tons of cheap SE models. C2 could fill that bill going forward but there are better opportunities for Ford to pursue with CE1 and other existing products. CE1 has the opportunity to fill that role for Ford in the EV space where there isn’t a lot of competition and the market will increase over time as opposed to continuing to decrease. Until more competition appears, and Ford decides to give up on the segment again 😛 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted June 11 Share Posted June 11 (edited) 1 hour ago, rmc523 said: Until more competition appears, and Ford decides to give up on the segment again 😛 How long has Ford been competing with Ram, GM, Toyota and Nissan with full sized pickups? Explorer? Transit? Mustang (u til recently)? bronco (jeep). Theyre not afraid of competition when the products are profitable. Edited June 11 by akirby Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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