Sponsored

Ford Ditching Cars For SUV's Has Cost Them Loyal Customers

cocopanda

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 3, 2019
Threads
12
Messages
213
Reaction score
65
Location
Bay Area
First Name
J
Vehicle(s)
2019 Premium GT Coupe
Vehicle Showcase
1
But no one is buying normal cars in mass. So what do they do? Go out of business by choice? Adapt and change. How the markets work.
Sponsored

 

Hack

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 26, 2014
Threads
83
Messages
12,283
Reaction score
7,445
Location
Minneapolis
Vehicle(s)
Mustang, Camaro
I've always wished Ford would make a small AWD performance vehicle, but I didn't love the RS. I still would probably have a Focus RS if Ford would have made a lot of them and made them less expensive. To me that product was just a bit of a miss being a little high priced for the market. An AWD version of the Fiesta would have been even better IMO. And every regular Focus I've been in (loaner vehicles) was really crappy. I think poor ergonomics and poor quality of the Focus might be part of the reason people went to other BRANDS of cars, more so than just Ford not making cars.

However, the idea that Ford decided to abandon all their customers who like cars probably makes Ford customers angry. And angry customers will deliberately go away. I felt I got mistreated by Sears on an appliance purchase in the 1990s and I still haven't bought another major appliance from them. And now I never will, because Sears is gone.

And I realize that Mustang people are not a majority of Ford customers, but the new "Mustang" Mach E really makes me want to buy a Camaro. I actually spent some time last night looking at Camaro prices online. I've never owned one, but they are pretty close competition to the Mustang. The 1LE SS wouldn't be a bad track day vehicle.
 

Deleted member 35644

Guest
It seems like Ford would realize that they've just pushed a considerable number of buyers into the waiting arms of Toyota and Hyundai. They've both upped their games with the Corolla & Veloster, not to mention the omnipresent Camry and the now-commonplace Sonata. But their numbers guys seem to think they know what they're doing, so it'll be interesting to sit back and watch what happens.....especially during the next gas crisis.

If only Ford had switched in a decent auto transmission and kept the otherwise-good Focus going, right when Toyota took a giant leap forward with the Corolla (IMO).
Corolla.JPG
 

Strokerswild

Shallow and Pedantic
Joined
Nov 7, 2014
Threads
74
Messages
6,614
Reaction score
5,398
Location
Southern MN
First Name
Dave
Vehicle(s)
Things With Wheels
I've always wished Ford would make a small AWD performance vehicle, but I didn't love the RS. I still would probably have a Focus RS if Ford would have made a lot of them and made them less expensive. To me that product was just a bit of a miss being a little high priced for the market.
Agreed, I'd probably have an RS for a driver also if they hadn't been so expensive. Despite their greatness, I couldn't see dropping that much on a hatch.
 

BmacIL

Enginerd
Joined
Sep 21, 2014
Threads
69
Messages
15,010
Reaction score
8,920
Location
Naperville, IL
Vehicle(s)
2015 Guard GT Base, M/T
Vehicle Showcase
1
Called it the day they announced it..

All these people were quick to defend because of closeness on fuel economy, but neglected to think about 1) the cost difference between a sedan and CUV and 2) some people just don't want one of those. At this point, with Ford making so many mistakes on basterdizing the mustang name, the Bronco that will be meh, and the lack of cars, I kind of hope they get what they deserve. Product people are not running that company.
 

Sponsored

Fetlock

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 1, 2018
Threads
2
Messages
75
Reaction score
35
Location
San Diego
First Name
Brian
Vehicle(s)
2018 GT MT
Focus has always been crap. I remember back when the Focus came out. The ZX3 was heavier and slower than the Escort ZX2, and on autocross and drag tracks the ZX2 S/R guys were doing identical times to the 3yr newer SVT Focus with 30HP less while costing 3K less. They didn't make a focus that actually out performed the '00 S/R till like 2012. Sad.
I drove a Focus for 15 years, 2.3 Duratec manual. It was very reliable and had fair pep for an econobox. I had one issue with the ignition and the alternator went out, but that car served me well.
 

Big Boss

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 28, 2015
Threads
0
Messages
705
Reaction score
220
Location
Outer Heaven
Vehicle(s)
Mazda6
Called it the day they announced it..

All these people were quick to defend because of closeness on fuel economy, but neglected to think about 1) the cost difference between a sedan and CUV and 2) some people just don't want one of those. At this point, with Ford making so many mistakes on basterdizing the mustang name, the Bronco that will be meh, and the lack of cars, I kind of hope they get what they deserve. Product people are not running that company.
Been a Ford guy since I got my license. Two Mustangs, A Focus, an Edge and an Explorer (the wifes cars) My Focus died last year, didn't need another suv/cuv in the house and had just had my son so needed a sedan. Focus was a POS, and nothing about the Fusion excited me (Sport was nice but could not find one in my budget) and I ended up getting a Mazda6. Great car, probably one of the best cars I have owned. Sporty enough with the 2.5T, great fuel economy( actually its almost the same as my focus. Focus averaged about 31-33 MPG in the Mazda I am getting 28-30). Ford not having any good cars and moving away from cars led me away to buy from Mazda.
 

nrc

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 19, 2017
Threads
7
Messages
623
Reaction score
527
Location
Ohio
Vehicle(s)
2018 Mustang EB PP
Just like they were with the Escort.
The Escorts that were sold in America had nothing to do with the Escorts that campaigned successfully in WRC.

Ford of North America has generally taken good small cars from Europe or Japan and messed them up trying to Americanize them. The Powershift debacle being the one big exception.
 

Bikeman315

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 12, 2015
Threads
520
Messages
15,245
Reaction score
19,269
Location
Myrtle Beach, SC
First Name
Ira
Vehicle(s)
2019 Mustang GT/CS, 2021 Volvo XC60
Called it the day they announced it..
Yes you did, congratulations :):like:

All these people were quick to defend because of closeness on fuel economy, but neglected to think about 1) the cost difference between a sedan and CUV and 2) some people just don't want one of those.
The American market has spoken. The want SUV's & CUV's. They are not rushing in droves to buy performance cars. Sucks for us but it is what it is.

t this point, with Ford making so many mistakes on basterdizing the mustang name, the Bronco that will be meh, and the lack of cars, I kind of hope they get what they deserve.
So your wishing that the company that made your car, the GT350, the GT500. the Bullitt, and the EB HPP should go under. They took our cars name not our children. I think we need to take a breath.

Product people are not running that company.
Yeah so. Product people do not run most major public corporations. But the ones at Ford who green lighted the Mach-E also green lighted the GT500.
 

Rocket403

Active Member
Joined
Oct 11, 2019
Threads
1
Messages
32
Reaction score
23
Location
Ontario
First Name
Kevin
Vehicle(s)
2010 Challenger RT 1980 Olds Cutlass 2018 Ram 1500 Sport 1996 Grand Marquis
I think it is very short sighted to ditch the car market like the big 3 have done they have all cut back, some more than others. It is hard to say what will happen to the market and it may come back to bite them in the behind. If the cost of gas goes up and people start ditching their bigger trucks and SUV's and jump on the car bandwagon they will be scrambling to fill a void that they have in their lineup.

There were 3 cars in the top 10 in sales in 2018 and they were all imports so people are still looking for cars just not north american cars, maybe the big 3 were just offering less appealing products and needed to up their game. Now they just handed that market to the imports.
 

Sponsored

Rocket403

Active Member
Joined
Oct 11, 2019
Threads
1
Messages
32
Reaction score
23
Location
Ontario
First Name
Kevin
Vehicle(s)
2010 Challenger RT 1980 Olds Cutlass 2018 Ram 1500 Sport 1996 Grand Marquis
Bikeman the American market has spoken but have a good product that people want and they will buy it.

Last year FCA Brampton Assembly plant produced 233000 RWD platform cars in the 300/Charger/Challenger and right now I think they sell more RWD cars that any other company.
 

Schwerin

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 31, 2018
Threads
179
Messages
3,993
Reaction score
2,496
Location
Home
Vehicle(s)
2019 Mustang
The Escorts that were sold in America had nothing to do with the Escorts that campaigned successfully in WRC.

Ford of North America has generally taken good small cars from Europe or Japan and messed them up trying to Americanize them. The Powershift debacle being the one big exception.
Ah but originally they were supposed to. Just like the Focus. The Escort was supposed to be a "world car" then they split them into 2 separate cars, Focus did the same thing for a bit. There was a style refresh in the EU that we never got, with trims we never got. Lucky for them they didnt change platforms like they had with the Escort. It wasn't till later that they brought them back together gain when the ST line came out in the US in 2012. With the Escort, Ford had already moved to a Mazda platform in the US so they had no way to bring the car back to being a "world car" unless they did a whole new car from scratch, which is why they made the Focus. It was to be a new attempt at a "world car". The Escort name in the US was tarnished so they felt a re-brand was necessary. Then they nearly just repeated the same mistakes again, only to NOT repeat it, and simply killed the car after doing what they SHOULD have done in the 80's/90's and had a truly world car.
 

Hack

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 26, 2014
Threads
83
Messages
12,283
Reaction score
7,445
Location
Minneapolis
Vehicle(s)
Mustang, Camaro
Yes you did, congratulations :):like:


The American market has spoken. The want SUV's & CUV's. They are not rushing in droves to buy performance cars. Sucks for us but it is what it is.


So your wishing that the company that made your car, the GT350, the GT500. the Bullitt, and the EB HPP should go under. They took our cars name not our children. I think we need to take a breath.


Yeah so. Product people do not run most major public corporations. But the ones at Ford who green lighted the Mach-E also green lighted the GT500.
I agree that tempers are high now and people will calm down over time.

I'm not saying I'm going to boycott Ford or that I wish them ill. But I'm not going to buy more new Fords if they don't make something I want to buy.

I also hope that the people at Ford making these decisions don't stay there long.
 

tokuzumi

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 3, 2019
Threads
1
Messages
369
Reaction score
173
Location
Atlanta
Vehicle(s)
2004 Escalade ESV
I had the Mercury Lynx (87) as my first car. Ford should have never built that car. Trash inside and out. I think it was ready for it's 3rd transmission when we traded it in at 133k miles. Only good thing about that car was the steel bumpers front and back. I hit a brick mailbox at low speed, and all it did was put a small crease in the bumper.
 

GasPedal

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 4, 2018
Threads
21
Messages
97
Reaction score
36
Location
MA
Vehicle(s)
2016 Mustang GT Premium | Race Red
The cars were ugly and low margin. Apart from the Focus RS the only thing that was decent was the Taurus SHO. Pretty low success rate in sedans over the last two decades in the US I’d say so why waste resources? No one grows up aspiring to own a Ford Fusion so is anyone really going to miss it?

It’s a business and I’d rather they have focus on profitability and creating value for shareholders than waste resources making cars that don’t excite anyone.
Sponsored

 
 




Top