Mustang future....

Ford reported earnings....interesting (but not surprising) to note the following:

“Within the next few years, the only two cars Ford will make will be the Mustang and a new Focus Active crossover, scheduled to debut next year. The other 90 percent of its North American portfolio will be made up of trucks and SUVs by 2020.”

"Mustang " is a very nondescript word. Mustang like I think of it such as gt350 and gt500 and other ford performance vehicles? Maybe not. How about mustang hybrids etc. I'm cashing in now buying the (maybe) last of thier kinds, 350R's and a 500 (R).

My crystal ball is in the shop. I may be way off.

Tomster said:

"Mustang " is a very nondescript word. Mustang like I think of it such as gt350 and gt500 and other ford performance vehicles? Maybe not. How about mustang hybrids etc. I'm cashing in now buying the (maybe) last of thier kinds, 350R's and a 500 (R).

My crystal ball is in the shop. I may be way off.

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Agreed- I read “Mustang” and all the derivations associated with it.

Socalrugger said:

Ford reported earnings....interesting (but not surprising) to note the following:

“Within the next few years, the only two cars Ford will make will be the Mustang and a new Focus Active crossover, scheduled to debut next year. The other 90 percent of its North American portfolio will be made up of trucks and SUVs by 2020.”

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Who’d buy a Mustang built outside of North America, more specifically, outside the USA?

I think this plan is short sighted on Ford’s part. I also think it leaves the Mustang vulnerable. But then again once autonomous cars hit, I think they’re going to take over quickly, and it’s probably not more than 5 or 10 years away.

Its a sad fact but Americans love big/tall/fat cars that drive like a luxury sofa on wheels without realizing that false sense of security and stability actually is the isolation that makes them much worse drivers than they were a decade ago (and lets be honest the way you get your license here was a complete joke to begin with).

I despise those gigantic living house cars like denalis and suburbans or any gigantic SUVs. They look ugly, they ride dangerous, and forces people to become worse drivers.

My daily driver is a GT350. My wife drives it everyday taking my daughter to and from school/activities/groceries etc. all these other moms look at my wife like she is from another planet without knowing she has the 10 times of reflexes and concentration of their husbands (no disrespect). My wife tells me how much more focused the car forces her to be and how much more in control she now is of the road and the car. She says she appreciates all the feedback car gives her and the complexity of all the moving parts and how they all work in harmony.

They should mandate stick shift

And I am so lucky to have a wife like that, I dont know what I would do without her

It's unbelievable how short sighted Ford is being. This is exactly what they did in the late 90's and early 2000's, then when gas skyrocketed they had to jump through hoops to keep the company alive while they built up a fleet of cars attractive enough to draw in buyers. They even had to mortgage their trademark (blue oval) to raise cash at one point.

Now they want to throw away all that effort. Well, they deserve what they'll inevitably get.

Yeah, I'm shocked. I just hope that the dealer network doesn't collapse and we have to travel far for any kind of special service or warranty work.

I don't like it, but then again I don't know enough to argue the case against it business wise. If Ford is just trying to build what sells then that makes business sense to me. This anouncement just sounds so extreme. Probably because we all love cars, especially performance cars. The average buyer probably couldn't care less and won't even notice. I hope it works out well.

Looking foward to details on plant closures and job losses now that this announcement has been made. Interesting fleet Ford will now have and I'm trying to wrap my head around what their CAFE numbers are going to look like.

IDK what to think to be honest. I'm all about Ford being profitable, otherwise there will be no Mustang down the road.
However, it appears they are chasing a market segment and putting all their eggs in one basket so to say. What happens when gasoline goes back to $4.50/gal and middle class America wants to trade in their gas guzzling SUV's?

I can only imagine electric cars are being worked on heavily behind the scenes and will take over the market at some point. When battery technology catches up with the cost of petrol, there will be a change over IMO, like it or not. As for now, Ford is betting on the F-Series carrying their company into the next decade.

Tank said:

Who’d buy a Mustang built outside of North America, more specifically, outside the USA?

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The same people who would buy BMWs built outside of Germany?

The vast majority of car buyers care about quality and value (however they characterize that), not where the thing is welded and screwed together.

The statement from Ford is sort of misleading. They are stopping sedan production but will be moving into more "CUVs," which is where the big chunk of the market is now. Subaru Crosstrek is outselling the base Impreza. I haven't looked at numbers but I'd guess that the various Honda Civic-based crossovers (HRV, CRV, Acura RDX, etc) are a huge share of total platform sales. And these jacked-up wagons are usually higher margin than their small-car counterparts.

Throw in electrification/ hybrid drivetrains and manufacturers can hit CAFE rules without selling tiny cars at a loss, while cutting costs by dramatically reducing the number of platforms in production, and ... well, that's the market. They will build and sell what people will buy and what will make them the most money.

If the CEO was a long time car person the announcement would make more sense to me. Sounds like Ford could be setting themselves up for problems when gas prices go up and consumer demand changes. Lessons are repeated until learned. As a shareholder I may start to look for an exit point.

Colleton said:

It's unbelievable how short sighted Ford is being. This is exactly what they did in the late 90's and early 2000's, then when gas skyrocketed they had to jump through hoops to keep the company alive while they built up a fleet of cars attractive enough to draw in buyers. They even had to mortgage their trademark (blue oval) to raise cash at one point.

Now they want to throw away all that effort. Well, they deserve what they'll inevitably get.

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The difference is that the crossovers of today get the mileage of the compacts of the early 2000's.

The 2002 ford focus would get 25-28 on averge depending on the model. Whereas the 2018 escape gets 23-26 on average depending on the model. And with that comes the fact that North American buyers prefer larger vehicles based on where they put their dollars.

Ronp said:

If the CEO was a long time car person the announcement would make more sense to me. Sounds like Ford could be setting themselves up for problems when gas prices go up and consumer demand changes. Lessons are repeated until learned. As a shareholder I may start to look for an exit point.

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See electric/ hybrid point above. At some point the "expensive gas = small car" equation becomes meaningless. The non-CUV Focus will still be a world car and sellable everywhere, so if that equation does rear its head, Ford could bring it back to the US very quickly. It's really only the Fusion/ Mondeo (and maybe Taurus) that is dying for good, and that has never been super competitive in class vs. Accord/ Camry.

It's a shame that the Fusion finally became a very good car right before its demise, I guess.