Ford Axing all cars except Mustang and Focus Active Crossover in North America

Let gas get back to $5.00 a gallon and see what happens people will be dumping there suv's like crazy. $ 5.00 a gallon gas is what caused Ford to recommit to small cars in the early 2000's

thehunterooo said:

Jobs? Hahahahaha. The only thing that matters is getting money in the shareholder’s pockets.

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Unfortunately that is the painful truth the only thing that matters is your stock price and the dividends paid to the share holders.

To every one up in arms, did you not see the part where the Mustang isn't going anywhere? Why do you all care about their sedans and hatchbacks?

Besides handing over sedan market share to every other auto maker, Ford's going to be an oil price spike away from asking for another multi-billion dollar "R&D loan" from Uncle Sam.

Performance cars are always in the crosshairs when people talk about CAFE restrictions when it's these big trucks--which are usually hauling nothing more than the driver by the way--that are wasting fuel.

itguy08 said:

It's a whole different game when your SUV struggles to get 10 MPG and the car gets 25-30 MPG. Payback is short.

But when your CUV gets 22-28 (Escape) you really are not searching for that 30-35 MPG $hitbox.

I still think they should have at least kept the Fusion. It's a really nice car that unlike the Taurus (which started out awesome) didn't die on the vine.

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22 mpg is a hellava lot different than 30 mpg when gas is 4 to 5 dollars a gallon and you fill up your car. I can tell you it made a big dent in my wallet when gas was near 5 dollars a gallon and I was driving a Focus ZX3.

EcoVert said:

22 mpg is a hellava lot different than 30 mpg when gas is 4 to 5 dollars a gallon and you fill up your car. I can tell you it made a big dent in my wallet when gas was near 5 dollars a gallon and I was driving a Focus ZX3.

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To go 1000 Miles:

1000/22 = 45.45 Gallons
1000/30 = 33.33 Gallons

45.45*$5 = $227.25
33.33*$5 = $166.65

$60.60 over 1000 miles. $6 per 100 miles. That's worst case at $5/gallon. It's even less at $4/gallon.

Where you see the savings is going from 10MPG:
1000/10 = 100 Gallons
100*$5 = $500 !!!

Bay1Stang said:

Yeah, the Japanese domination is probably another reason Ford left the market. They can't compete. And why would they if the Sedan is heading towards an inevitable irrelevance?

I mean it's still a big market, but all signs show it in a sharp decline.

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The ford ranger died is the only reason tacomas became popular! Ford axed the ranger back in 2011 and you see how long that lasted... Ford is messing up again, but atleast we get to keep the mustang even if in 5 years it will be 4 cylinders or electric. I will hold my 16 for ever. Last new car i buy.

BmacIL said:

If sedans were a small market I'd agree with you. Small markets with profit, albeit very low margins, are the kinds of markets where you question staying in. They become a distraction and drain on the high volume & profit products.

Honda and Toyota just launched brand new Accords and Camrys. They are selling very well.

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Exactly, which is why this move doesn't appear to make any business sense. Profit is profit. If you have product A that costs you X to make (all in cost) and you sell it for X+Y, you are making Y profit on that product. It doesn't matter that product B makes Yx2 profit. If you stop making product A you lose Y profit unless you think you can turn A sales into B sales, and I don't see any indication that people who want a sedan will buy an SUV just because Ford stops making sedans. They will just buy a Camry or Accord or Malibu.

thehunterooo said:

Jobs? Hahahahaha. The only thing that matters is getting money in the shareholder’s pockets.

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Yep. I worked for a big company that produces business jets for a while, they decided to lay off several thousand people worldwide to increase their margins for the quarter and ended up losing like 20% of their sales and total business because they couldn't meet demand and customers left for other brands (customer loyalty is absolutely huge in that industry, you piss off one rich guy and 30 stop buying your jets). But damn did they have one hell of a fine quarter with their short-sighted money grubber thinking! :lol:

If I remember correctly the president of General Motors stated in 5 years that the automobile was to become self driving and electric. Ford has been pushing for automobiles that can be controlled from outside sources... What all this means in the near future Americans will not own vehicles. There will be pods that you summon to travel to your destination. Then leave for next rider.

Kinda like all those bicycles you just get on and pedal then leave in stand at your destination. Only they will be self driven battery operated pods that you pay for with a credit card. This will eliminate excess vehicles therefore freeing up the hiway, parking lots etc....

Cardude99 said:

To every one up in arms, did you not see the part where the Mustang isn't going anywhere? Why do you all care about their sedans and hatchbacks?

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Because I hate that everyone drives a Monster truck or CUV aka new Minivan blocking my view on the road since they sit high off the ground, blocking spaces and dinging my car in parking lots since they are larger, driving slow around corners since their center of gravity is so high. Why would any car enthusiast not be upset at this??? F Jim Hackett. F him right in the A.

millhouse said:

Indeed. People seem to forget exactly what national $4/gallon of gasoline did for truck and SUV sales.

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True, but when gas shoots back up, they can always just import their smaller cars that will still be selling in other parts of the world. It's not like Ford is stopping those cars for the entire world.

EvilleGT said:

True, but when gas shoots back up, they can always just import their smaller cars that will still be selling in other parts of the world. It's not like Ford is stopping those cars for the entire world.

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So why not do that now?

Because right now it's not cost effective due to the low volume they are selling. I was reading that on average, those cars they are cutting sit on dealer lots an average of 85 days or something like that before they sell. If gas shoots up and demand rises, it can be profitable to sell them again.

Carbon Addict said:

Because I hate that everyone drives a Monster truck or CUV aka new Minivan blocking my view on the road since they sit high off the ground, blocking spaces and dinging my car in parking lots since they are larger, driving slow around corners since their center of gravity is so high. Why would any car enthusiast not be upset at this??? F Jim Hackett. F him right in the A.

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Understand your thought process, but in defense of Hackett, he didnt create this situation, hes just dealing with it. (Insert Reservoir Dogs meme).

Transportation must be thought of as an infrastructure of systems: from the tires , to the road, to the vehicle, to the human interface.

Humans like Safety and Visibility and Security. Put my grandchild in a car seat in a Sherman tank, or M1A1.

I am all for a new class of ultra light, raised, 2up (instead on 3 wide seating) SUV/Crossover w superior urban parking dynamics, narrower interior seating (possibly even staggered. Time to think outside the box.