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

[EcoVert]

They are going to have 2 cars and one is on a 10 y/o chassis?

Mustang is a car the Focus will be a baby suv

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[xDUMPWEEDx]

As for me, maybe I'll swap out my Ecoboost Mustang for the "Last of the V8s" memorial edition Mustang just before they toss that in the heap as well.

Yep. I will probably sell my '17 and buy the very last year of the V8 GT, whenever that is.

 

[EcoVert]

What the hell happened to "Ford Performance?"

The stock market and Hackett

 

[likeaboss]

Not at all, us enthusiasts think it should get one but this just points towards either the Mustang a.) sharing the upcoming Explorer platform or b.) continuing on the current chassis making modifications when/if possible.

Time for me to start looking at Vettes and join the dark side.

 

[Loki-GT]

The car companies want to move to more profitable margins. :lol: Never before in history has there been a time when a car can base price at 25k and fully optioned end up at 50k because they package everything into pure profit margin accessories.

So Ford now decides an all SUV Crossover line-up (or nearly so) should be the way to go. The Fusion sells well, my wife hates SUV's and Crossovers so if Ford stops making sedans she will stop buying Ford's.

I think this is a very stupid move. GM already has more SUV's and Crossovers than we can count and still sells sedans and regular cars because there is a market for them.

 

[obgod3]

My wife said last night that we need to buy not lease the next car, and be sure its what we want for the next 15 years....this is dumb and while I was looking at getting a new Fusion in the fall I will not, Ill move to Audi, lexus, infinity etc.... Probably Lexus....Oh well.

 

[Nameless]

Old? I'm just 35.
I will never buy an SUV or any non v8 mustang. I'd rather get an EB Mustang than a hybrid or electric (no offence EB drivers)

So.. would you get an Ecoboost Mustang instead of a Hybrid V8 Mustang?

It's like I'm selling peaches, apples, and plums. Last year I sold 1000 bushels of peaches, 600 bushels of apples and 200 of plums. My profit margin is $5 a bushel for peaches, $3 a bushel for apples and $2 a bushel for plums. If I stop selling plums it doesn't make me any money unless I can convert plum sales to peach or apple sales, I'm just losing $400 in sales.

Found this (Some "Moses Fridman" wrote it):
You have a lemonade stand that sells lemonade and popsicles. Local tastes change, and soon you have to sell the lemonade at break-even prices, while your customers demand more and different flavors of popsicles. One idea, you could find a way to make money on the lemonade by reducing the price and quality of the ingredients, and perhaps buying frozen pre-made lemonade. But this would cheapen your reputation. Another idea, you could drop lemonade, and invest the money into more flavors of popsicles. More popsicles will increase your profit--as long as the tastes don't shift back to lemonade. Also, since lemonade is cheaper than popsicles, you are pursuing customers with more spending money.

More popsicles is a great strategy, if you see the future clearly.

I wonder if the Mustang will stay at Flat Rock with the loss the the Fusion production there.

The Fusion has years not being built at Flat Rock; the plant is only for Mustang and Continental production.

Maybe it's just me...
But they aren't squashing all these car lines completely - just killing their sales in North America. I wonder if they will use this reasoning to move production of these export only models to say Mexico or somewhere else where labor costs are much cheaper. Then if their reasoning / sales shift - they'll simply 'import' these to North America.

Well, the Fusion and Fiesta are built in Mexico right now... and it’s not as simple as just “import these to NA” again, they need to work/develop a North American variant.

Wow. They better make the focus 'crossover' (wtf is that?) a hell of a lot higher quality of a car than the previous focus was. Seems a very odd strategy especially with the push towards efficient/stylish EVs.

This is the "Focus Crossover" (Focus Active):

 

[Z_Rocks]

I spend all day with computers in IT and you just pained a very depressing future to me.

I get a lot of enjoyment out of driving a car myself with a manual, and the idea of everything being silent, automated and little or 0 information from me is VERY depressing to me. Not even in a sarcastic way. I see the future as VERY depressing, bright and shiny place.

Exactly, same here. I'm a software engineer and I hate having computer and software driving my car. Me and myself are the only ones driving the car.

 

[millhouse]

Found this (Some "Moses Fridman" wrote it):
You have a lemonade stand that sells lemonade and popsicles. Local tastes change, and soon you have to sell the lemonade at break-even prices, while your customers demand more and different flavors of popsicles. One idea, you could find a way to make money on the lemonade by reducing the price and quality of the ingredients, and perhaps buying frozen pre-made lemonade. But this would cheapen your reputation. Another idea, you could drop lemonade, and invest the money into more flavors of popsicles. More popsicles will increase your profit--as long as the tastes don't shift back to lemonade. Also, since lemonade is cheaper than popsicles, you are pursuing customers with more spending money.

More popsicles is a great strategy, if you see the future clearly.

A few big issues with this analogy.

A) What if it was the lemonade that got you the people to come to the stand in the first place, and the only reason they continue to buy from you (instead of your competition) is because that's where they started off with. You may not make as much money on the lemonade, but it's what brings in the customers before they decide to transition over to the more expensive Popsicle.

B) By no longer producing lemonade, you have eliminated a large portion of the people buying the Popsicle....the lemon pickers.

C) Peoples tastes change and you have already ceased lemonade sales and production. Because the process of re-starting production of new lemonade takes years....and because their now is a large federal import tax on lemons...you have effectively backed yourself into a multi-year recession while you attempt to normalize.

 

[SVT-DADDY]

A few big issues with this analogy.

A) What if it was the lemonade that got you the people to come to the stand in the first place, and the only reason they continue to buy from you (instead of your competition) is because that's where they started off with. You may not make as much money on the lemonade, but it's what brings in the customers before they decide to transition over to the more expensive Popsicle.

B) By no longer producing lemonade, you have eliminated a large portion of the people buying the Popsicle....the lemon pickers.

C) Peoples tastes change and you have already ceased lemonade sales and production. Because the process of re-starting production of new lemonade takes years....and because their now is a large federal import tax on lemons...you have effectively backed yourself into a multi-year recession while you attempt to normalize.

Biggest issue with this analogy is that Ford is opting for less Popsicle's not more.

Next recession, change in culture, or sharp incline in gas prices they will struggle because they haven't hedged there bets.

 

[traxiii]

If gas stays in the $2-$3 range, I don't necessarily think Ford is making a bad decision financially. It's just a big risk at this moment. Thinking long-term, electric CUV's are the vehicle of the future.

GAS Is $3.60 IN THE S.F. BAY AREA RIGHT NOW!

 

[millhouse]

Biggest issue with this analogy is that Ford is opting for less Popsicle's not more.

Next recession, change in culture, or sharp incline in gas prices they will struggle because they haven't hedged there bets.

Lemonade is cars, Popsicles are SUVs and Trucks.

But yes, they are absolutely putting their eggs into one basket.

 

[c-rizzle]

Old? I'm just 35.

I will never buy an SUV or any non v8 mustang. I'd rather get an EB Mustang than a hybrid or electric (no offence EB drivers)

And how many kids do you have? I had both, F150 daily driver and a Mustang fun car for a long time. (wife already had an SUV as her daily) Then I consolidated my truck & car in to one Ford Explorer Sport. Kind of best of both worlds with sporty but large enough seating for kids and their friends. And the big one.... easy to get in out of the car in the carpool line at school. I could have never lived with only a Mustang.

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

Yeah, but I've talked to a lot of "oil friends" and they all have said the same thing, its so easy and cheap to "turn on" fracting and sand oils that oil will never hit the highs it was at. Its different with deep ocean wells or traditional wells that cost A LOT more and take a lot more time to start producing when the price/demand goes up. As soon as price/demand goes up anytime in the future, the supply will go up quickly to help stable the price. Different world of untapped reserves.

The Kia Stinger seems to be a hot item now. But it is a Kia, if you can get over that.

I saw one the other day, loved it.

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 !!!

Huge difference in just 5 years, my last 3 trucks:
2009 F150 with 5.4L V8 = 10-11 MPG.
2012 F150 with ecoboost = 14 MPG.
2015 F150 ecoboost & aluminum body = 17 MPG
It had a 36 gallon tank = 600 mile range! It was awesome.

Actually downgraded with my 2017 Explorer Sport, I only get about 15 MPG.
And only like 17 gallon tank, aggravates me to fill up weekly.

 

[itguy08]

To take the analogy further....

You hear people are shifting to Popsicles and lemonade drinkers are dwindling. Those that come in looking for Lemonade are easily convinced to try a Popsicle because it costs the same and satisfies your craving just as well.

In addition your Lemonade has high costs and low profits, not enough to continue planting lemon trees.....

 

[millhouse]

To take the analogy further....

You hear people are shifting to Popsicles and lemonade drinkers are dwindling. Those that come in looking for Lemonade are easily convinced to try a Popsicle because it costs the same and satisfies your craving just as well.

In addition your Lemonade has high costs and low profits, not enough to continue planting lemon trees.....

Lemonade and Popsicle's most certainly do not costs the same. Those looking for lemonade will simply venture over to a different maker who is more than willing to sell them.

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