Ford Abandoning Cars

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Mechnutt

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Ford announced earlier in the week that they are phasing out all cars except for the Mustang and a Crossover version of the Focus. They are going to sell only Suv's and trucks. Apparently the 5% profit on cars was not enough.

GM and foreign manufacturers must be happy. Too bad for the consumer though with less domestic choices. The new Ford Fusion is an excellent car and the Focus drove somewhat like a Euro built car (it was designed in Germany). Every where I go I see lots of Fusions and Focuses on the road.

I suspect this has a little bit to do with Trump easing the up coming mpg benchmark that cars have to meet in the upcoming years along with low gas prices.

Unfortunately, compact and midsize SUV's don't get as good mpg and they use anemic engines for the most part.

I think that Ford is making a huge mistake because eventually gas prices are going to sky rocket again at some time in the next coming years and people will want high mpg cars.
 
I think you will see Chevrolet follow. Like keeping the Vette and Camaro,. Last week " GM Chief Financial Officer Chuck Stevens told reporters that the company will “make significantly lower investments on a go-forward basis” in its passenger car lineup" Yep SUV's and cross-overs and pickups are the new norm in the US. .
 
Good Riddance. Ford with their quality issues globally are a joke. the beginning of the end.
 
They prefer to make trucks and suv's because the profit margins are higher. Pickup trucks use to be dirt cheap but 20 years ago or so the prices skyrocketed. I once read that it cost GM less than $15K to make a Suburban that they charge $40K. If GM follows suit then the Japanese and Korean's will steal the market even more.
 
Interestingly enough, 2 mostly made in America cars, the Camry and the Accord, together account for about 25% of US sedan sales.

Also interesting, a not untypical Yukon Denali XL costs more than a Mercedes GLS 450 (based on MSRP)
 
As soon as the car manufacturers switch to all trucks and SUVs the market for trucks and SUVs will dry up. As sure as the sun rises in the East, oil will skyrocket in price again, and most likely will stay there.
 
BlueFox said:
As soon as the car manufacturers switch to all trucks and SUVs the market for trucks and SUVs will dry up. As sure as the sun rises in the East, oil will skyrocket in price again, and most likely will stay there.
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What do you drive?
 
NorthStar said:
The price of gas here is quite reasonable...$1.75/liter (premium). ...Regular is only $1.55/liter, and should go over $2.00/liter later on when you need to drive your trucks more...pulling campers for summer vacation, mobile home trailers.

• https://www.cheknews.ca/get-your-wallets-ready-gas-prices-jump-for-greater-victoria-drivers-443066/
___

Anyone driving a Tesla?
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I just paid $2.71 per gallon for 92R premium today at Costco while other companies were charging $3.39. Costco gas is top tier fuel.

Back on the original subject. I really wonder if GM will abandon cars since Ford is getting out of the market. They will be the only american company besides Chrysler which makes POS cars except for the beautiful beast Challenger.

The Malibu, Impala and Cruze are selling like hot cakes around here.
 
Mechnutt said:
I just paid $2.71 per gallon for 92R premium today at Costco while other companies were charging $3.39. Costco gas is top tier fuel.

Back on the original subject. I really wonder if GM will abandon cars since Ford is getting out of the market. They will be the only american company besides Chrysler which makes POS cars except for the beautiful beast Challenger.

The Malibu, Impala and Cruze are selling like hot cakes around here.
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That's three times less than in Vancouver.
Cars run on gas, so it has some relevance on a grand scale.

• https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...thats-about-to-change/?utm_term=.8ceb19fa7554

GM is not far behind ...

• https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/26/for...us-car-business-and-gm-is-not-far-behind.html
 
Mechnutt said:
...I suspect this has a little bit to do with Trump easing the up coming mpg benchmark that cars have to meet in the upcoming years along with low gas prices...
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I think it has more to do with US Tax laws for autos with loaded GVWR >6000 lbs, allowing huge write offs for the self employed and business owners that buy them. If you're self-employed and your CPA has half a brain he should be imploring you to acquire one of these behemoths to reduce your tax burden.
 
I suspect that new car sales are down for various reasons. One reason is that kids just graduating HS and college are having trouble getting jobs or high paying jobs. Housing is sky rocketing (my daughter graduated nursing school 2 years ago, lives in Denver and has a 2 bedroom apartment that cost $1600 per month which she shares with a roommate and she has $600 per month student loan payments.)

These kids can't afford cars or are buying cheap used cars. The used car market is booming here. And my 26 year old son says many of his friends that have graduated college can't afford new cars. Many are still living at home with their parents. And more people are using Uber and Lyft. Cars are also built better and many people are hanging on to them longer.

I actually loathe SUV's although we own one to tow our boat and for AWD for the heavy winters in Minnesota. I would hate to drive on the road with mostly SUV's and not being able to see over them in traffic.
 
Mechnutt said:
I suspect that new car sales are down for various reasons. One reason is that kids just graduating HS and college are having trouble getting jobs or high paying jobs. Housing is sky rocketing (my daughter graduated nursing school 2 years ago, lives in Denver and has a 2 bedroom apartment that cost $1600 per month which she shares with a roommate and she has $600 per month student loan payments.)

These kids can't afford cars or are buying cheap used cars. The used car market is booming here. And my 26 year old son says many of his friends that have graduated college can't afford new cars. Many are still living at home with their parents. And more people are using Uber and Lyft. Cars are also built better and many people are hanging on to them longer.

I actually loathe SUV's although we own one to tow our boat and for AWD for the heavy winters in Minnesota. I would hate to drive on the road with mostly SUV's and not being able to see over them in traffic.
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I've been in the car business for 44 years, and been GM of a large Honda dealership for 26 years. right now, Honda and Toyota have the most successful cars by volume. especially if you just consider retail, and not fleet or rental, none of the other makes are very close. the SAAR (seasonally adjusted annual retail) number is holding steady around 17 million units. and is not likely to increase. so there is no anticipated growth in the total market, just segment adjustment.

for many reasons, there is a push to move from sedans to SUV's and Crossovers.....likely led by demand for AWD and more flexible uses that customers are demanding. it's driven by all age groups. and there is less demand from the entry level buyers for typical entry level sedans, as many young buyers in urban areas are choosing to either go car less or using car sharing options. it's even normal today that many high school students think it's cool not to drive. 10-15 years ago that would have been unheard of. so the negative effect on sedans is coming from many directions.

back to brands; Ford does not make any sedans that are popular at retail, and mostly sell the few sedans they do sell in the central states, very few on the coasts. Nationally they are trucks and SUV's and sell sedans to rental car companies. and when faced with all the increasing safety and emission regulations and the couple billion (with a B) dollar cost of developing a new competitive sedan they simply made a business decision. Honda and Toyota make too good a product in a declining segment, and sell so many they are able to amortize a much better product over many more units. so Ford is only the first to go this way......not the last.
 
One of Ford's issues was that they kept the Taurus around too long. It was dated and not a very good car. The new Fusion on the other hand is a very good car and right up there with the Camry and Accord. I have driven all 3 many times. Reliability is something else and Fords are not very reliable. The Focus is a very nice car and rides better than the Mazda 3 and Elantra and Kia Forte its competitors. However, Ford never addressed the crappy transmission.

I hope with the U.S. automakers getting out of the sedan business, that the quality of the Japanese and Korean cars do not take a hit. I have not owned an american car for over 30 years. I am not concerned about the German cars though. And don't get me started with Dodge and Chrysler. Not even Mercedes could help them.
 
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