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

Just read this on MSN, seems like a plausible explanation.
https://www.msn.com/en-ca/autos/news/the-real-reason-ford-is-phasing-out-its-sedans/ar-AAwJPim?li=AAggNb9&ocid=mailsignout

w3rkn said:

Well the last Focus rolled off the line Thursday morning...


As for Ford's Future..?

I can see me having a Bronco for winter and hauling/camping, etc..
AND a Mustang.

Though, I could easily substitute the Bronco for the new unannounced mini-bronco, or even the Focus Active. Sport & Sport Utility...

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Bronco II

w3rkn said:

Well the last Focus rolled off the line Thursday morning...


As for Ford's Future..?

I can see me having a Bronco for winter and hauling/camping, etc..
AND a Mustang.

Though, I could easily substitute the Bronco for the new unannounced mini-bronco, or even the Focus Active. Sport & Sport Utility...

Click to expand...

I was impressed with the Eco-Sport interior, until I drove it, oy vey. I would love to see the Bronco when they release it. It will definately be on my radar as a replacement for my Edge.

Norm Peterson said:

But how good are the chances they'll bring the height back down under 60" (better yet, 58")? I think the EcoSport is currently the shortest of the bunch at about 65" tall, which is still several inches taller than anything I'd ever consider.

That certainly would be exciting . . . and worth waiting for if they can stay away from "tall".

Norm

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I am not sure the tallness will be especially noticeable, handling wise. The track is 2 inches or so larger as well, so that should help a bit. Cars in general have "grown up" a bit in the last decade. A Ford Taurus is about 7 inches taller than my sn95, a charger isn't that much better.

A srt8 jeep is just as fast around a track as an srt8 challenger, comparing car and driver "lightning lap" times (admittably from different years). IDK I don't think 99 percent of people will care, if Ford can get the pricing similar. however the whole reason they are killing cars , is to raise transaction prices. So I am not sure how that is going to work. Seems Ford is just giving away the sub 18k market.

I honestly misread the article a bit, I thought ford was keeping the Focus, but it appears they are only keeping one model variant of it. I tell you what though, if ford made raptor like 'rally' variant of the Focus Active, I bet it would sell like hotcakes. Kinda looks a lil like a rally car with the raised suspension.

gnatsuM said:

Just read this on MSN, seems like a plausible explanation.
https://www.msn.com/en-ca/autos/new...sedans/ar-AAwJPim?li=AAggNb9&ocid=mailsignout

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I'd heard something about "footprint" vs mpg. That vehicle plan-view size would have tended to grow as a result doesn't surprise me. That it's being allowed to let height grow as well does.


Norm

Loki-GT said:

The issue I have is this, the Fusion sells in large numbers, always has and I see the damn things everywhere so it's not like the writing is on the wall for the demise of sales for this car. The only reason why sales would slump is the lack of updating Ford has given this great car which forces a decline in sales.

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Every.Single.Sedan.Is.Losing.Sales.

This is not exclusive to the Fusion, it's something in general. Every manufacturer is having its sedan sales reduced.

Loki-GT said:

Ford almost built the Probe as a Mustang, millions including me wrote in and dared them to try, they would never buy another Ford if they did it. Ford got the message loud and clear, don't be stupid and we have the current S550 which is awesome because of it.

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The truth behind that is that Ford wanted the Probe to be "a mustang" but not "The Mustang". The intention was to sell both cars side by side: The Foxbody Mustang for the typical customer and the Probe (Mustang Sport? maybe named something like that) for a younger audicence so they could increase their market. Ford wanted to make the "Mustang" a sub-brand like Hyundai did with the Genesis.

w3rkn said:

Though, I could easily substitute the Bronco for the new unannounced mini-bronco, or even the Focus Active Sport & Sport Utility...

Click to expand...

UAmach1 said:

Bronco II

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Apparently it will be called "Ford Maverick"
Why? That's how an "off road SUV" was called overseas sold between 1988 and 2005, even the First Gen Escape sold overseas got that name (And since the new SUV will be based on the first/second gen escape, it makes sense.

https://carbuzz.com/news/the-ford-maverick-is-set-to-make-a-comeback

This is the baby Bronco:



And it is suppose to be capable.

:ford:

w3rkn said:

This is the baby Bronco:

And it is suppose to be capable.

:ford:

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I guess it will be a mix between that render and this one:



https://www.ford-trucks.com/articles/ford-off-road-small-utility-everything-know/



Supposedly it will be the same size than the Escape, so I guess it will be a "Compass Competitor".

mustangenthusiast420 said:

I am not sure the tallness will be especially noticeable, handling wise. The track is 2 inches or so larger as well, so that should help a bit.

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It still makes for a disadvantage, vehicle dynamics-wise.

Talk about timing, my son-in-law tells me that barely a couple hours ago, somebody managed to flip one of those things over while turning off a secondary highway into a parking lot driveway, about a mile from my house. Whether it was struck by another vehicle or its driver misjudged a curb and ran over it tipping the vehicle probably doesn't matter.

A few years ago, Acura came under fire for one of their SUVs being unusually susceptible to "trailing throttle oversteer". So instead of fixing those vehicles mechanically, they tweaked the stability control system. IOW, a band-aid, where surgery was really the patient's best option. I doubt that this sort of "fix" has been limited to Acura.

Agreed in particular about chopping off as many of the entry-level options as seems to be the case possibly becoming a case of penny-wise, pound foolish.


On tallness for its own sake, I suspect that the more chair-like seating that typically results runs counter to making very fine adjustments on the pedals.


Norm

Honda and Toyota hyst refreshed the Accord and Camry and they are pretty much "ALL NEW" and they are having problems selling them. So much so that Toyota is doing heavy incentives on them.

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I'll admit that is pretty striking considering the Camry is one of the fastest selling cars in the country.

Unfortunately this will never happen not enough profit in a 2door suv, cuv

One thing that is very interesting is Jeep sold almost as many Wranglers last month as Toyota sold Camrys.

RaceRed5.0 said:

I'll admit that is pretty striking considering the Camry is one of the fastest selling cars in the country.

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Based on the number I've seen on the road, I wouldn't say they're having a problem selling them. Honda just put some much better discounts on the Accord which is why I bought one. Both of these cars have always had pretty aggressive discounts due to the number made.

EcoVert said:

Unfortunately this will never happen not enough profit in a 2door suv, cuv

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Heck, I didn’t notice it was a “3 door”