Why do that if you build vehicles that sell on their own instead? Maverick and Bronco Sport are even more effective at bringing in new customers and they’re far more profitable.
Thats similar to the point I was going to make. Why not use sedans as loss leaders to get people in your products then upsell them for the next one. Isn’t that kind of the whole justification for Lincoln’s entire existence?
Those companies also produce sedans in North America, Latin America, Europe, and Asia outside China, regions where Ford has given up on sedans. Ford doesn't know how to build sedans profitably no matter where. The sedans Ford makes with Changan in China are probably unprofitable.
Too late to save my former Lincoln-only store. The $5 million cost of complying with the program is one of several reasons they decided to shut down. The land ended up being more valuable than the expected cost of staying in business.
If you think about it, “pink polka dot” vehicle production is something of Ford’s own making, not customer orders.
Were back to the same old same old, Ford producing weirdo model versions that few want, they need to stop
assuming they know what buyers want and ask dealers what’s needed in their location, go back to what works.
and yes, it’s safe to assume generally higher prices are turning off enough buyer for Ford to notice.
Also with regards to North American car sales, the EPA virtually made it impossible to sell profitable small cars, the rules of required fuel economy were overly tough compared the easier pass given to trucks/utilities (non-cars).
Even today, it makes little sense to produce sedans when that production capacity can and is being used
to make more profitable Utilities or trucks. Toyota even admits that the Camry makes little sense and will
eventually give way to more RAV4 sales.